ABSTRACT
The preceding chapters have explored a number of works of art in use by the nuns of San Domenico throughout the fifteenth century and into the early years of the sixteenth century. This chapter will consider the mechanics by which the nuns obtained such works of art. Despite the community’s strong commitment to clausura with, ideally, as little contact with the world as possible, the women were able to dictate their wishes to artists outside the convent walls and to be introduced to new iconographies and compositions. After a review of the evidence for nuns’ patronage in general, I will introduce an episode that documents the means by which the women of San Domenico gave very specific orders to artists who worked for them. I will also argue that when their access to images was inhibited, either by financial, logistical, or circumstantial limits, religious women responded by making works of art themselves. I also offer here a method for arguing that an otherwise anonymous work of art was the work of a nun in a specific community, even in the absence of documents or signatures.
