Nuns in the Certosa Cloister, overlooking a Moonlit Sea towards the Faraglioni, Capri, Franz Ludwig Catel
Artwork Overview
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 73 x 98 cm
Canvas/Support (Height x Width x Depth): 28 3/4 x 38 5/8 in
Frame Dimensions (Height x Width x Depth): 40 1/2 x 50 3/4 x 4 1/2 in
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Images
Label texts
The Certosa di San Giacomo (Chaterhouse of St. James) was founded in the 14th century as a Carthusian monastery, likely atop an earlier Roman site. The structure was characterized by fanned, hemispherical vaults with distinctive detailing at their points of intersection. Having survived raids by Saracen pirates, plague, invasion, religious suppression, and abandonment, by the 19th century the cloister had served as a jail, a hospice for invalids, and an army barracks.
Catel, an expatriate German artist active in Italy, reimagines religious life in the cloister, and in this version, places nuns within the historically male institution. Dramatically illuminating the scene with a full moon and candlelit interiors, Catel constructs a vision of pious contemplation. In the 19th century, artists employed Gothic ruins and revivalist styles to conjure a mythologized medieval past of spirituality unmarred by industrialization and commerce.
A cloister is a covered walkway in a convent or monastery. This particular cloister is on an island off the coast of Italy. Here the nuns lead lives of quiet contemplation. Above the archway a sign reads “SILENZIO” (silence). As three nuns walk the corridors they transition from the warm light of candles to the serene glow of the full moon. Take a moment for your own silent contemplation. Close your eyes and imagine the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below.
A cloister is a covered walkway in a convent or monastery. This particular cloister is on an island off the coast of Italy. Here the nuns lead lives of quiet contemplation. Above the archway a sign reads “SILENZIO” (silence). As three nuns walk the corridors they transition from the warm light of candles to the serene glow of the full moon. Take a moment for your own silent contemplation. Close your eyes and imagine the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below.
A cloister is a covered walkway in a convent or monastery. This one is by the seaside on an island off the coast of Italy. Here the nuns lead lives of quiet contemplation. On the archway above, a sign reads “SILENZIO” (silence). Take a moment for your own silent contemplation. Close your eyes and imagine the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks below. Breathe in. As the waves recede, breathe out and let them carry away all your worries and stress.
The Certosa di San Giacomo (Charterhouse of St. James) was founded in the 14th century as a Carthusian monastery, likely atop an earlier Roman site. The structure was characterized by fanned, hemispherical vaults with distinctive detailing at their points of intersection. Having survived raids by Saracen pirates, plague, invasion, religious suppression, and abandonment, by the 19th century the cloister had served as a jail, a hospice for invalids, and an army barracks.Catel, an expatriate German artist active in Italy, reimagines religious life in the cloister, and in this version, places nuns within the historically male institution. Dramatically illuminating the scene with both a full moon and candlelit interiors, Catel constructs a vision of pious contemplation. In the 19th century, artists employed Gothic ruins and revivalist styles to conjure a mythologized medieval past of spirituality unmarred by industrialization and commerce.
The Certosa di San Giacomo (Chaterhouse of St. James) was founded in the 14th century as a Carthusian monastery, likely atop an earlier Roman site. The structure was characterized by fanned, hemispherical vaults with distinctive detailing at their points of intersection. Having survived raids by Saracen pirates, plague, invasion, religious suppression, and abandonment, by the 19th century the cloister had served as a jail, a hospice for invalids, and an army barracks.
Catel, an expatriate German artist active in Italy, reimagines religious life in the cloister, and in this version, places nuns within the historically male institution. Dramatically illuminating the scene with a full moon and candlelit interiors, Catel constructs a vision of pious contemplation. In the 19th century, artists employed Gothic ruins and revivalist styles to conjure a mythologized medieval past of spirituality unmarred by industrialization and commerce.
Exhibition Label:
"Empire of Things," 2013, Kate Meyer
The Certosa di San Giacomo (Chaterhouse of
St. James) was founded in the 14th century as a Carthusian monastery, likely atop an earlier Roman site. The structure was characterized by fanned, hemispherical vaults with distinctive detailing at their points of intersection. Having survived raids by Saracen pirates, plague, invasion, religious suppression, and abandonment, by the 19th century the cloister had served as a jail, a hospice for invalids, and an army barracks.
Catel, an expatriate German artist active in Italy, reimagines religious life in the cloister, and in this version, places nuns within the historically male institution. Dramatically illuminating the scene with both a full moon and candlelit interiors, Catel constructs a vision of pious contemplation. In the 19th century, artists employed gothic ruins and revivalist styles to conjure a mythologized medieval past of spirituality unmarred by industrialization and commerce.
Archive Label 2003:
This painting depicts a famous cloister in Capri that was built in the 1360s. Following the suppression of religious orders by the Murat regime of Napoleon in 1808, it was no longer occupied by monks. Catel is thus restoring a vision of a lost era in bringing religious figures back into this cloister. The original institution was exclusively male; the presence of nuns in the painting was likely at the behest of his patron, Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire.
The son of French Calvinists, Catel worked with the Nazarenes and other German Romantic painters. In this painting, he combines a romantic landscape with a genre scene. The meditative subject matter with candlelight and moonlight, interior and exterior spaces, and a sense of a calm but dangerous vista over the sea are classic features of German Romantic painting.
