Nuns in the Certosa Cloister, overlooking a Moonlit Sea towards the Faraglioni, Capri, Franz Ludwig Catel

Artwork Overview

Franz Ludwig Catel, Nuns in the Certosa Cloister, overlooking a Moonlit Sea towards the Faraglioni, Capri
Franz Ludwig Catel, Nuns in the Certosa Cloister, overlooking a Moonlit Sea towards the Faraglioni, Capri
Franz Ludwig Catel
Nuns in the Certosa Cloister, overlooking a Moonlit Sea towards the Faraglioni, Capri
circa 1823
Franz Ludwig Catel, artist
1778–1856
Nuns in the Certosa Cloister, overlooking a Moonlit Sea towards the Faraglioni, Capri, circa 1823
Where object was made: Germany
Material/technique: oil; canvas
Dimensions:
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
Credit line: Museum purchase: Funds from the Estate of Professor and Mrs. T. Anthony Burzle, and Helen Foresman Spencer Art Acquisition Fund
Accession number: 2002.0030
On display: Kress Gallery
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Images

Label texts

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.

Exhibitions

Empire of Things
Kris Ercums, curator
Kate Meyer, curator
2013–2015
Teaching Gallery: History of Photography 2012
2012
Google Art Project
2016
Empire of Things
Kris Ercums, curator
Kate Meyer, curator
2016–2021
Keep Calm and Breathe
2020
Illumination
Kris Ercums, curator
2022–2027
Illumination
Kris Ercums, curator
2022–2027

Resources

Audio

Audio Tour – Bulldog Podcast
Audio Tour – Bulldog Podcast
As a child, Franz Ludwig Catel began his art career when assisting in his father’s toy shop, carving small wooden toys. Who would have known that he would grow up to become what some consider as one of the world’s most distinguished painters? Catel was born in 1778 in Berlin, Germany and always had shown interest in art. He studied at the Acadmie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1807, he began to make a name for himself for his watercolor works. Eventually, Catel decided that his area of expertise was with the painting of Italian landscapes, and from there, his career blossomed. During a time when early Realism and Romanticism filled a majority of art work, Catel’s works were very popular. It was in 1823 that Franz Ludwig Catel painted the piece of art known as “Nuns in the Certosa Cloister”. This painting originally depicted monks, not nuns. However, Catel’s second rendition of this work of art was more popular than his original. At first glance, “Nuns in the Certosa Cloister” is just a painting of three nuns above a body of water. However, there is so much more to this work of art than you might think. The moonlit sea appears luminescent below the sky. Look closer and you may notice the two sailboats, riding the peaceful waves up next to a steep cliff. Though the beauty of the background is breathtaking, the subjects of this painting are obviously the nuns in the cloister. Inside the cloister, light streams from an open door, creating shadows that dance across the walls and ceiling. A nun looks curiously into the open doorway, her face radiating light. Behind her, through an archway and up some dimly lit stairs, appears yet another door, open just a crack with light streaming out, hinting at another room. Above the archway, before the door, there is a dark and faded sign hung on the wall. On it is carved the Italian word “silenzio,” directly meaning “hush.” A second nun is walking down a hallway near the large open window-like structures while a third sits solemnly at the window sill. She looks forlorn, possibly sad, maybe just exhausted. After observing this artwork thoroughly, this painting leaves me with a sense of tranquility. I feel a curiosity for what lies beyond the doors of the cloister. This painting makes me think. Undoubtedly, Franz Ludwig Catel wants to leave viewers with a feeling of peace and harmony. This painting represents an age of Enlightenment, perhaps a revolution. It prods questions to which it can give no answers. I wonder, what is Catel’s main purpose for painting this piece of art? What or whom lies beyond the doorways, emitting light? To me, this work of art is more than just a painting on the wall; it is a look into the past, begging your mind to travel back to a world lost in time. This is Katie Gaches, with another Bulldog podcast.
Listen to core object information.
Audio Description
Listen to core object information.
Audio Description
The artist is Franz Ludwig Catel, born 1778 in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia (present-day Germany), died 1856, in Rome, Papal States (present-day Italy). The title of the work is Nuns in the Certosa Cloister, overlooking a moonlit Sean towards the Faraglioni, Capri, created circa 1823. The work is made with oil on canvas.
Listen to Audio Description
Audio Description
Listen to Audio Description
Audio Description
Nuns in the Certosa Cloister, Overlooking a Moonlit Sea towards the Faraglioni, Capri is a night scene painting of three nuns in an exterior colonnade, or arched hallway, of a cloister on a cliff overlooking the sea. One nun in a pale, paneled gown stands facing our left at an open door. Her face is illuminated with a warm light as if she is holding a candle, though our view is blocked by the open door. Her shadow stretches across the floor. Another nun walks toward us with her hands tucked inside her robe, her face in shadow. The last nun sits with her face resting on her hand, her elbow on the ledge overlooking the sea. Through the high arches of colonnade, the moon rises over the water among broken clouds. The cool light from the moon reflects on the gentle waves, and casts the other architecture along the rocky cliffs in silhouette. Back in the colonnade, the light from the nun’s candle illuminates the vaulted arches overhead, and the stairs that lead away from us. Above the stairs a sign reads, SILENCIO. We imagine the sound of the waves and the snoring nun disturbing the quiet night.
Listen to Label Text
Audio Description
Listen to Label Text
Audio Description
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.