The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Portrait of a Woman, Possibly a Novice of San Secondo

Portrait of a Woman, Possibly a Novice of San Secondo

c. 1490
(Italian, 1497)
Framed: 30.5 x 24 x 3 cm (12 x 9 7/16 x 1 3/16 in.); Unframed: 24 x 17.5 cm (9 7/16 x 6 7/8 in.)

Description

Scholars have recently speculated that this work does not actually depict a nun, although it has been described as such since 1543. A beautiful young woman presented as saintly, a regular occurrence, the sitter may be the wife or daughter of Alvise Contarini. Her attire, particularly the head garb, may be secular, while some scholars consider it to be Benedictine or Dominican. The San Secondo convent was reserved for daughters of the wealthiest Venetians and conventions of dress were fairly loose until 1515 when strict reforms were enforced by religious and political authorities in Venice.
  • Baron Rochdale, London (1924);
    (London sale 1948));
    Kenneth Clark, Saltwood (1948, 1975);
    (Eugene V. Thaw), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1976.
  • Antonello, Ferdinando Bologna, and Federico De Melis. Antonello da Messina. 2013. 65
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 101 archive.org
    Periti, Giancarla. In the Courts of Religious Ladies: Art, Vision, and Pleasure in Italian Renaissance Convents. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016. Reproduced: p. 61, plate 48; mentioned: pp. 59-60
    Ballarin, Alessandro. Giorgione e l'umanesimo veneziano. Verona: Edizioni dell’Aurora, 2016. Reproduced: plate 127
    Cuzin, Jean-Pierre, et. al. Le Saint Joseph Charpentier de Georges de la Tour: Un Don au Louvre de Percy Moore Turner. [Gent]: Snoeck, 2017. 2017. Mentioned: p; 387, p. 510, n. 3394
  • Year in Review, 1976. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 1-March 6, 1977).
    CMA, February 1977: Year in Review, cat. no. 43, illus. in color (cover)
    Stockholm, National Museum, 1962 -1963: Konstnes Venedig, cat. no. 69
    London, Royal Academy, January 2 - March 6, 1960: Italian Art in Britain, cat no. 352.
    Birmingham Art Gallery, August 18 - October 2, 1955: Italian Art from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century, no. 52
    London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, 1924 - 1925: Winter Exhibition, no. 8 (lent by Lord Rochdale, K.C.B., under "unknown artists").
  • {{cite web|title=Portrait of a Woman, Possibly a Novice of San Secondo|url=false|author=Jacometto Veneziano|year=c. 1490|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1976.9