Mystic Marriage of Blessed Osanna Andreasi

Osanna (1449-1505), of the noble Mantuan Andreasi family, Dominican tertiary, was in close relations with the marquises lords of the city and in particular with Isabella d'Este, who asked Pope Leo X for his beatification (1515). He lived in the beautiful family home (still open to the public, in Via Frattini), where, although immersed in the contemplative dimension, he devoted himself to works of charity. His mortal remains are venerated in the cathedral; the feast falls on June 18. Author of the painting is the daughter of the painter Guglielmo Caccia said, the Moncalvo; baptized as Teodora, entered the convent with the name of sister Orsola Maddalena, continuing the activity of her father with paintings of devotional character, appreciated especially for the ability to combine the sweetness of human figures a marked realism: examples are here the myriad of angels who dance, play and sing, as well as the many flowers, depicted with scientific precision. The theme of the painting is the mystical wedding, or spiritual marriage, with Jesus Christ, to which the nuns and nuns are dedicated, to signify that they tend to fully share the life of their Lord. Here are manifested the passion (crown of thorns and cross placed on the shoulders of the Blessed) and glory (an angel removes the crown of thorns to replace it with one of flowers), in the light of the Holy Spirit (depicted as tradition in the form of a dove). The scroll that reads "Iesu Maria" alludes to an episode in Hosanna’s life according to which, with the miraculous appearance of this writing she learned to read and write. The scene below shows, in the background of the castle of Moncalvo (which Sister Orsola could see from her cell), another episode of tradition, according to which an angel helped the Blessed to carry a heavy bucket of water from the Po.