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Catalogue raisonné: Description in Italian Paintings: Three Centuries of Collecting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2015, cat.no. 95:

FORMER INV. NOS.: 374 (M. 1804); KM 493.

TECHNICAL NOTES: The support is a coarse, plain-weave linen
fabric. The ground is red. It is glue-lined (probably in the 19th century)
and mounted on a non-original stretcher. The paint layers
are slightly abraded (overcleaning), and impastos are flattened due
to the lining. The tacking edges are cropped. UV fluorescence and
raking light reveal that at some point the painting was probably
shown as a smaller work. The lower and lateral parts show signs
of having been folded. When the painting was lined, the “original”
dimensions were restored. Documented restorations: Conservation
in 2012: Removal of yellow varnish and discoloured retouches.
Retouching. New varnish.

PROVENANCE: Martelli 1804.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: NM Cat. 1867, p. 29 (as van Dyck); Sander 1872–
76, p. 128, no. 374; NM Cat. 1958, p. 240 (as anonymous, 17th century);
NM Cat. 1990, p. 439 (as anonymous, 17th century).
The 18th-century attribution assigned this
painting to Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641). Many
stylistic features of the portrait may indeed recall
the Italian legacy of this Flemish artist, but the
attribution is not sustainable today.

The specific technical qualities of the portrait
and the direct setting, with the sitter placed en
face, suggest Francesco Trevisani as its author.¹
The painting bears strong similarities to Trevisani’s
portraits of Sir Edward Gascoigne (Leeds,
City Art Galleries, Lotherton Hall),
painted in the early 1720s, and Jan Jachym, Count
of Pachta (Prague, National Gallery), dated to
1696.² The Gascoigne portrait shares with the
Nationalmuseum painting the delicate mouth,
straight nose, strongly curved eyebrows and a
particular emphasis on the eyes through the
straightforward en face position. The sitters’
hands, always a prominent feature in Trevisani’s
portraits, show strong formal similarities, with
the rather narrow upper parts contrasting with
heavier, curved fingers.

Trevisani’s biographer Nicola Pio stressed the
painter’s abilities as a portraitist by pointing out
his eagerness for fine accessories and his ambitious
approach to realistic and lively representations.
³ One of the pioneers of the Roman Grand
Tour portrait, he worked extensively for the
Stuart Court, where he was rivalled by Antonio
David, also represented in the Martelli Collection
(NM 165, cat. no. 49).

The present portrait is rather unique within
the subgenre of elite nun portraiture in Rome,
and challenges the famous formula invented by
Ferdinand Voet (1639–1689) in his portraits of
the young nuns of the Chigi family.⁴ The threequarter-
length scale, the gilded armchair and
the seated position of the model suggest that
the young nun occupied an important position
within her convent and probably belonged to the
aristocracy. The youth of the sitter is particularly
striking and sheds light on the conditions of
female religious careers, which often began when
a girl was brought to a convent to be properly
educated.⁵ The sitter of this portrait wears a dark
veil, underlining that she is no longer a novice but
a professed nun. It is likely that the portrait was
commissioned with reference to this status.

The partly deep blue colour of the habit,
recently brought to light in the section around
the right hand, suggests that the sitter belonged
to the Order of the Holy Annunciation – also
known as “le Turchine” (the Blue Nuns). The
order’s habit is generally known for its deep blue
cloak worn over a white dress. During the first
years of its establishment, the nuns chose, for
hygienic reasons, to keep the habit completely
blue, accompanied by a black veil.⁶ This explains
the slightly unorthodox representation of the
habit in the Nationalmuseum painting. The
order, regulated by the Augustinian rule, was
founded in Genoa in 1604. Known for its particularly
severe enclosure, the order was dedicated
to contemplation of the Annunciation, the
Nativity and the Incarnation, as well as to prayer
for lost souls. Although it had spread rapidly in
northern Italy, France, Flanders and Germany,
it lacked a convent in Rome. Eventually, one was
established in 1675 by the noblewoman Camilla
Orsini Borghese, and the architect Carlo Rainaldi
(1611–1691) became responsible for its construction
on the Esquiline Hill.⁷

It is impossible at this stage of research to
advance any suggestions as to the sitter’s identity.
The identification of the order to which she
belonged is an important clue that may in time
resolve the question. Trevisani’s first important
Roman benefactor, Cardinal Flavio Chigi
(1631–1693), had ten nieces who entered convents
in Rome and Siena.⁸ However, they belonged to
the orders of Dominicans and the Poor Claves,
which rules out any possible connection between
them and the Nationalmuseum portrait. DiFederico’s
mention of Trevisani as a portrait painter
to the Prince and Princess Borghese and all their
children offers another interesting line of inquiry.
⁹ Prince Marcantonio III (1660–1729) and his
consort Flaminia Spinola had two daughters
who entered a Roman convent in 1714, a period
in which Trevisani was rising on the Roman
artistic scene. Like the Chigi nuns, the Borghese
ladies opted for the Dominican rule, a fact that
again excludes any connection with the unknown
sitter of the present portrait.

The painting’s elegant mixture of religious
gravitas and elite sociability shows to full effect
Trevisani’s original and independent approach to
portraiture. The rather dark palette, recalling his
Venetian training, suggests a date around 1695.
sne

1 I am very grateful to Karin Wolfe for confirming this
attribution.
2 DiFederico 1977, cat. nos. P10 and P4.
3 Enggass and Enggass 1977, pp. 37–38.
4 Petrucci 2005, pp. 176–178, cat. nos. 93, 94a and 96a.
5 Norlander Eliasson 2010a, pp. 137–148.
6 Rocca 2000, pp. 486–487.
7 Dunn 1997, pp. 176–179.
8 Eszer 1979, pp. 171–196.
9 DiFederico 1977, p. 21. [End]

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Francesco Trevisani | Nunna | Nationalmuseum

Francesco Trevisani | A Nun | Nationalmuseum

Foto: Erik Cornelius / Nationalmuseum 2012