Plautilla Nelli, Partial study of the mantle, facing left, Uffizi Galleries, Prints and Drawings Department
Plautilla partial drapery study
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Nelli robing gives new meaning to the phrase ‘it’s a wrap’. Nelli’s robe work is exquisitely detailed in many of her paintings. Here’s conservator Rossella Lari’s view on Saint Catherine Receives the Stigmata, where we can see how Nelli’s drawing practice paid off: “Nelli went to great pains to depict the saint’s gown with realism. The chiaroscuro techniques she used to create its soft folds, the number of times she remixed her paints to create multiple shades of white, her attention to the fabric’s volume and hemming, are nothing short of breath-taking. The veil on Saint Catherine’s head is quite different from the gown; in that case, Nelli painted a cold, more rigid fabric that appears starched. The artist depicted these garments as if she wanted us to guess what type of cloth had been used to make them.”