But we have not far to seek for the reasons which led Plautilla Nelli and Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi to choose the conventual life. The subjects of their pictures prove that their thoughts were fixed on a life quite out of tune with that which surrounded them in their homes. If they pictured rich draperies and rare gems, it was but to adorn with them the Blessed Virgin Mother and the holy saints, in token of their belief that all of pomp and value in this life can but faintly symbolize the glory of the life to come.
Plautilla Nelli, born in Florence in 1523, entered the convent of St. Catherine of Siena, in her native city, and in time became its abbess. Patiently, with earnest prayer, she studied and copied the works of Fra Bartolommeo and Andrea del Sarto, until she was able to paint an original "Adoration of the Magi" of such excellence as to secure her a place among the painters of Florence.
Many of her pictures remained in her convent, but she also painted a "Madonna Surrounded by Saints" for the choir of Santa Lucia at Pistoja. There are pictures attributed to Plautilla Nelli in Berlin—notably the "Visit of Martha to Christ,"—which are characterized by the earnestness, purity, and grace of her beloved Fra Bartolommeo. Her "Adoration of the Wise Men" is at Parma; the "Descent from the Cross" in Florence; the "Last Supper" in the church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence.
There are traditions of her success as a teacher of painting in her convent, but of this we have no exact knowledge such as we have of the work of the "Suor
