Bodies and Surfaces: The Printing Practices of the Nuns at The Convertite

Abstract

Presented at the National Gallery of Victoria Art Book Fair Symposium 'Why Publish?: Critical Practices in Design and Print'. This presentation delves into a feminist history of early modern printing by examining the story of a group of women in sixteenth-century Venice who composed type and printed books. The narrative begins with the establishment of a women's prison in a building that previously housed a convent for reformed sex workers known as the Convertite. The women in this convent, referred to as meretrici, engaged in printing as a means of survival due to their marginalized social status and extreme poverty. The convent operated a printing press between 1557 and 1561, producing..