In the middle of the 15th century, each of these Roman Franciscan convents were reformed and re-staffed with nuns from Observant Clarissan convents in Perugia and expanded from 12 nuns to 70 nuns between 1451 and 1521. It was common for nuns to move from convent to convent when personnel was needed.

Regarding patronage and the activities within San Cosimato, Lowe’s main source is a chronicle written in the late 16th century by a nun named Suor Orsola Formicini. Formicini, as a chronicler, also served as a historian and looked to past chronicles in her writing. Lowe notes that convent chronicles were uncommon enough to be considered precious but common enough to comprise a genre of writing. From Formicini and other primary sources like papal and convent transactional records we can get a sense of how papal patronage looked in the 15th and 16th centuries.

In 1439 Pope Eugenius IV issued a bull that brought all Clarissan convents under protection of papacy rather than episcopal jurisdiction. In 1475, Franciscan Pope Sixtus IV, a lover of art and scholarship who was known for restoring Roman buildings and structures took on a large project at San Cosimato, adding a new church, campanile, cortile (courtyard), and well. He also would send money to the nuns whenever they sent him figs or peaches from their property. Sixtus’ fondness for San Cosimato might have due to his Franciscanism and his interest in developing the area of Trastevere. Sixtus’ sister, Franchetta, might have also been a patron of San Cosimato suggested by her request to be buried there.

Popes after Sixtus IV also patronized San Cosimato. In 1492 right before his death Pope Innocent VIII wanted to send two nieces to be educated in good manners at the convent. After Pope Innocent VIII, Pope Alexander VI created subsidies of foodstuffs for convents and his mistress, Vannozza Catanei might have also been a patron, suggested by a portrait of her with other benefactors. In the 15th and 16th century, Popes employed a “patriarchal munificence” in their patronage of San Cosimato, where they provided building works, female patrons, long term subsidy programs, and waived taxes. What Lowe calls ”gendered helplessness” allowed for mutual gains– Popes were able to boost their reputation and nuns received practical help and monetary aid.]]> The historian Kate Lowe explains that the convent at San Cosimato has a unique history of artistic patronage during the 15th and 16th centuries. During this period, the sisters at the convent seemed to behave less like active buyers and commissioners of works of art, but more like willing receivers, happy to take whatever was offered to their community. Franciscan and papal resources would lead to the support of the church through diverse works of art, leading to a heterogeneous collection of works. At least two or three notable works at San Cosimato were not created for the convent, but ultimately found a resting place there by chance or happenstance.

One example is the most prominently displayed work at San Cosimato: a late 13th-century panel called Madonna and Child. This depiction of the Virgin Hodegetria gesturing toward Christ was thought to be a miraculous work, painted either by Saint Luke or an angel. The Madonna and Child first hung in the basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican City, where it was adorned with gold and precious stones. A manuscript account from the 16th century tells that during the time of a pope called Leo, thieves stole the panel, pilfered the gold and stones, tied the panel to a large rock, and tossed it into the Tiber River. Legend tells that the panel miraculously refused to sink, and that the Virgin appeared to Pope Leo in a dream, providing him instructions to find the missing panel. After the pope found it under the Ponte Senatorio (also known as the Ponte Rotto), it was housed in two different chapels before ultimately being placed in San Cosimato, where it is displayed on the center of the apse today.

In discussing artistic patronage at the convent, Lowe details six artefacts: two panel paintings, two parts of frescoes/secco works, a tomb slab, and a marble sculpted monument, describing how the stories of their paths to the convent are just as diverse as the mediums. A lack of details about commissions makes it difficult to securely assess the nature of patrons. However, it is clear that proof of female patronage only exists in one instance, and no evidence exists for the commissioners being nuns or their families -- this provides a contrast to comparable convents in Venice and Florence, for instance. It is possible that the Sack of Rome led to artistic losses that might refute these claims, but the documented works of art prove that external patrons found the nuns of San Cosimato to be deserving recipients of works of art. These nuns accepted the wide variety of works offered to them, regardless of the original reason for the creation of each piece, or whether or not the piece was suitable. It was only at the end of the sixteenth century that a vast change began to occur, with the nuns accruing sufficient financial means to commission works of art for themselves.

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