Divine Intervention: Visionary Imagery and Authority in the Convent of San Domenico of Pisa (thesis)

Abstract

My thesis forces viewers to reconsider the purpose of images in the convent of San Domenico of Pisa. While scholars such as Ann Roberts argue that the founder of the convent, Chiara Gambacorta, commissioned images of visionaries served as examples of feminine piety for their convent audience, I suggest that these pieces depicted more than a paradigm of feminine devoutness. Indeed, my project investigates how these images provided female monastics with a way to reclaim their power from the surrounding male figures and establish their authority by triggering visions. As a personal encounter with the divine, these visionary episodes had a notable degree of authenticity. Thus, these mystical experiences placed the nuns of San Domenico in a position comparable or even equivalent to that of a priest. [From the Introduction]