The Veiled Nun
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Previously attributed to Giuseppe Croff
| The Veiled Nun | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Italian, 19th century Previously attributed to Giuseppe Croff |
| Year | c. 1863 |
| Type | Sculpture |
| Medium | Marble |
| Dimensions | 20.75 in × 11.00 in × 9.50 in (52.71 cm × 27.94 cm × 24.13 cm) |
| Location | National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. |
| Owner | National Gallery of Art |
The Veiled Nun is a marble bust depicting a female figure, sculpted by an unidentified Italian workshop c. 1863. Despite its name, the woman depicted is not a nun.
The bust was popular with visitors to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., from 1874 until the museum closed in 2014.[1][2] The bust is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
The Veiled Nun is a 20.75 in (52.7 cm) tall marble bust depicting a female figure wearing a veil. The fine details give the illusion that the veil is transparent. Although the title, The Veiled Nun, was already in use in 1874 when the work was first displayed in public,[3] she is not a nun, but rather a woman of means or an allegorical figure. Neither the woman's stylish coiffure that is visible through the veil nor the embroidered border of the veil are consistent with a nun's appearance.[4]
Sculptures depicting veiled figures were popular during the 19th century based on an Italian tradition that began in the 18th century. Notable examples include works by Antonio Corradini and Giuseppe Sanmartino in the Cappella Sansevero in Naples, and by the Florentine Innocenzo Spinazzi. In the 1850s, Raffaelle Monti of Milan crafted a Veiled Vestal, which may have influenced William Corcoran to name this bust The Veiled Nun.[4]
Two other busts that appear to be derived from the same model are at the National Museum of Serbia and Laurier House in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Neither is signed.[4]
