17th-century invitation to a Florentine nun’s investiture ceremony.
[Nuns] / [Ephemera]. Ugolino del Vernaccia, e Laura Capponi sua Consorte pregano le Signorie Loro Illustrissime ad onorare, con l’Intervento delle loro Persone il Vestimento della Margherita Francesca loro Figliola in S. Domenico di Cafaggio il dì 15. stante a hore [blank] e le fanno ossequiosa reverenza. S.l. [Florence]: s.n., s.a. [second half of 17th century]. [24.0 x 18.0 cm], [1] f. letterpress text within a woodcut border. Trimmed to border line at left and right edges. Well preserved.
Very rare 17th-century invitation to the investiture ceremony of Margherita Francesca, who was becoming a nun in the Dominican convent of San Domenico di Cafaggio in Florence. The invitation was to be sent by her father, Ugolino del Vernaccia (1612-1702), and his wife, Laura Capponi.
Ephemeral material printed for the occasion of a nun’s “vestimento” sometimes survives (e.g., poems composed for the event), but invitations such as this one are only rarely encountered today.
The (rather fine) woodcut factotum border could be used by the printer to frame invitations and other ephemeral documents on short notice. Two putti at the top-center of the sheet display a blank escutcheon to which a coat of arms could be added in manuscript or through an inserted woodblock
This invitation is silent about the details of the event itself. In fact, this copy of the invitation seems never to have been used: A space left to enter by hand the exact time of the event remains blank here. I have not located any ephemeral poetry or other ephemeral material produced for Margherita Francesca’s investiture or profession ceremonies at San Domenico di Cafaggio. The year of this investiture ceremony is not provided on the invitation, but based on her father’s age, the event occurred in the second half of the 17th century.
This item is not located by OPAC/ICCU/SBN, OCLC or KVK, but I have located a copy at Ohio State University.
* A. Brundin, “On the Convent Threshold: Poetry for New Nuns in Early Modern Italy,” Renaissance Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 4 (2012), pp. 1125-1165; C. Reardon, “Veni sponsa Christi: Investiture, Profession and Consecration Ceremonies in Sienese Convents,” Musica Disciplina, vol. 50 (1996), pp. 271-297; M. Betti, “Amore proibiti in palazzo Mondragone Carnesecchi. Un’inedita cupla di Antonio Puglieschi e una memoria medicea,” in M. Betti and C. Brovdan, eds., Donum: Studi di storia della pittura, della scultura e del collezionismo a Firenze dal Cinquecento al Settecento, pp. 147-64.