Plautilla Nelli's Last Supper Restored and Exhibited in Florence

A nearly seven-meter-long painting of the Last Supper by Plautilla Nelli (1524-1588), a self-taught nun and painter, has been restored and returned to public display. The work, featuring thirteen life-sized figures, was created within the walls of her convent, Santa Caterina di Cafaggio in Florence, now demolished. Nelli inherited drawings from Fra Bartolomeo and continued the tradition of the School of San Marco, a Florentine artistic movement from the early 1500s influenced by Girolamo Savonarola, who encouraged artistic activity among nuns to prevent idleness. Giorgio Vasari noted in his Lives that Nelli's works amazed artisans. By tackling the Last Supper, a subject typically reserved for master painters, Nelli challenged conventions. The restoration was a collaborative effort involving Advancing Women Artists (AWA), the Municipality of Florence, the Florentine Civic Museums, the Superintendence of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the Metropolitan City of Florence and the Provinces of Pistoia and Prato, and the Dominican Friars of the Convent of Santa Maria Novella.