Maria Ormani

Her image is framed by a scroll with a Latin inscription describing her as "handmaid of God, daughter of Orman, and the writer of the book.

[5] Maria did not accompany her family into exile when her father Ormanno and grandfather Rinaldo, but became a novice at San Gaggio on 20 November 1438, with her dowry paid through the Florentine Comune.

[1] There were decorated missals, breviaries, and bibles that provided models for copy work, as well as grammar books and dictionaries for the nuns' education.

[1] Maria lived in this elite cultural environment with daughters of patrician families including the Medici, Orsini, and Rinuccini until sometime before 1471 when she disappeared from lists of convent residents.

[1] Maria di Ormanno degli Albizzi's portrait-signature is placed in the central bas-de-page, or bottom of the page, for the first Sunday of Advent, which often hosted coats-of-arms, donor portraits, religious narratives, or patron saints and served as an index for the reader.

[1] This prominent location and the Latin signature convey Maria di Ormanno degli Albizzi's pride and her social status as a member of the Florentine elite.

Her image is framed by a cascading scroll with the text, "Ancilla Jhesu Christi Maria, Ormani filia, scripsit, MCCCCLIII."