Virt u ally Visible Diane Ghirardo Fig. I Ambrogio Lorenzetti, A Croup of Poor Clares, ca. 1 329 (NC 1 1 47, National Gallery, London). I Archivio di State, Roma (henceforth ASR), Tribunale Criminale Del Governatore (henceforth Trib Crini), Process! 1500-1559, 14 February 1559. Part of Alessio's tale is recounted by Maria Elena Vasaio in "II tessu- to della virtii. Le zitelle di S. Eufemia e di S. Caterina dei Funari nella Controritorma," Memoria 11-12 (1984), 53-64, esp. pp. 59-63. Alessio Laurentani fell in love with Lucrezia Casasanta the moment he saw a sample of her needlework. That, and the warm recommendation of Livia, wife of his friend Pietro, convinced the thirty-five-year-old custodian that he should pursue her even though they had never met.' Alessio's desire to marry Lucrezia persisted for two years as he assembled the funds for a donation to the conservatory where she lived and relied on go-betweens to exchange information with Lucrezia. Like many other young women who were either orphans, daughters of prostitutes, or aban- doned by families too poor to care for them, Lucrezia lived in a con- vent until she married or decided to become a nun. Hand labor such as cloth production or embroidery and donations from pious patrons covered a girl's maintenance until a prospective husband had made a significant donation to the convent in exchange for her dowry. Alessio's suit became desperate when he learned that Lucrezia planned to become a nun. He visit- ed a friend whose apartment over- looked the courtyard adjoining S. Caterina, where he finally managed to see and communicate with Lucrezia and some of her friends on several occasions. Through hand signals, head nodding, and a handkerchief that Lucrezia finally tossed into the courtyard for him, the couple affirmed their intentions to marry. Some of these exchanges took place after Lucrezia took her vows and donned the religious habit, a barrier as powerful as the walls of S. Caterina's cloister, but Alessio remained convinced that she was being forced to take the 41