For more than 40 years, nuns in black habits from around the world have made a quiet but steady pilgrimage to Memphis, Tenn. No, they don't come to visit Graceland, although grace is one of their primary motivations.
The Ursuline nuns travel one, two, three at a time, year after year, to visit another local landmark, the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.
They come here to see a painting by 16th-century Italian artist Girolamo Romanino. The painting, "The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine," is more than a masterpiece to Ursulines.
It's a sacred work of art.
The 60-by-82-inch painting depicts the 1535 founding of the Company of St. Ursula. It includes the only known portrait of the order's founder, Mother Angela.
"It's a spiritual experience for us," said Sister Winifred Danwitz of New Rochelle, N.Y.
"The other figures in the painting are idealized stereotypes — the Flemish maiden, the Virgin, the Infant, the Saint — but (Mother Angela) is so real. Her face is the face of a real human being.
"It's very inspiring to see her because she reminds us that real human beings are doing the work of God."
The Brooks is honoring the Ursulines and Romanino's masterpiece with a special program that includes an exhibit that ends Nov. 1 and a two-day symposium.
The program is sponsored by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, which donated the Romanino to the museum in 1961.
"The painting is understandably considered one of Romanino's greatest masterpieces due to its stylistic, historical, and spiritual importance," said Kaywin Feldman, director of Brooks.
The warm and colorful painting depicts the infant Christ, on his mother's lap, placing a ring on the finger of St. Catherine of Siena, a 14th-century mystic known for her prayer life and service to the poor.
Other figures include St. Ursula, a fourth-century model of saintly devotion who had a large female following; and St. Lawrence, a third-century martyr whose figure symbolizes a church official who approved the founding of the order.
Kneeling on the far right side of the painting is Angela Merici, a nun who founded the Ursulines for the sole (and soul) purpose of educating girls.
The Ursulines appreciate what the museum is doing to recognize their founder and her portrait. But they hope that some day the painting bearing Mother Angela's likeness will return to Brescia, Italy.
That's where a painter named Romanino met a nun named Angela.
"Nothing wrong with Memphis, but it is sort of out of the way for most of us," said Sister Winifred.
"Even if it wasn't, we think she should be returned to Brescia."
Until then, the Ursulines and Mother Angela will continue to grace this land.
(Columnist David Waters may be reached by e-mail at waters(at)gomemphis.com or by mail at The Commercial Appeal, P.O. Box 334, Memphis, TN 38101.)
© 2000 Scripps Howard News Service.
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