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an old painting of a woman in a black dress holding a pair of scissorsan empty wooden picture frame on a wall with a white background
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32 - Portrait of a nun with a crucifix and a wreath of flowers; P…
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Estimate €2,000 - €4,000
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Description
Portrait of a nun with a crucifix and a wreath of flowers; Piedmontese School, 17th century; oil on canvas, 78 x 61 cm The painting depicts a young nun in half-length portrait, facing the viewer against a plain background, dressed in a black habit and a wide white headscarf. The nun clutches a small crucifix in her hands, whilst on her head she wears an elegant wreath of flowers, an element which may be interpreted as a symbol of consecrated virginity, religious profession and the mystical marriage to Christ.From a stylistic point of view, the painting fits well within the context of 17th-century Piedmontese painting, characterised by a particular focus on the devotional dimension, compositional restraint and an intense yet restrained rendering of emotion. The simplified rendering of the figure, the bare background, the clarity of the face and the meticulous depiction of the headdress and the floral wreath all contribute to creating an image of great spiritual concentration.A comparison with the figurative art of Orsola Maddalena Caccia – daughter of Guglielmo Caccia, known as ‘il Moncalvo’, and one of the most fascinating figures in 17th-century Piedmontese painting – proves particularly evocative. The similarities can be seen in the figure’s austere frontal pose, the sharpness of the contours, the delicacy of the skin tones, the subdued tone of the expression and, above all, in that particular fusion of observation of reality and religious sentiment which characterises many of the painter’s works.The connection with Orsola Maddalena Caccia is also particularly intriguing from a biographical and cultural perspective. The painter, in fact, spent much of her life in a convent and developed her artistic practice within a female monastic setting. Precisely for this reason, the presence of a nun portrayed with such attention to individual features and inner life suggests a cultural context very similar to that experienced first-hand by Caccia.
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About the sale Paintings and Drawings from the 15th to the 19th century
Auction location
Auction time 10/29/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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