What happened to the ideals of Observant Reform and Poor Clares rules of poverty and humility after Caterina Vigri's departure in 1456? Saint Bernardino (d. 1444), John of Capistrano (d. 1456), James Primadizzi (d. 1460) and James of the Marches (d. 1476) were not forgotten by nuns who lived in the religious life from c.1450 to 1500. In a Corpus Christi chapter meeting in 1464, the nuns agreed to celebrate Saint Bernardino's feast by ‘arranging the chapel and preparing and decorating the altar as best they can, and celebrating two vespers in complete chant or song, according to the way they have been used to doing’. This ‘chapel’ must have existed since Saint Bernardino's canonization in 1450, but later visitation reports do not mention it, and so far no documents have come to light. According to the convent necrology, many miracles occurred for the benefit of the nuns, including a miraculous vision of Vigri together with Saint Bernardino that cured one of the sisters in 1463. For this gift, Bernardino was designated as father and special advocate of the convent, ‘padre e singolare advocato di questo monasterio’.

This chapter begins by analysing Sister Caterina's legacy through the diffusion of copies of the Sette Armi Spirituali, and then turns to changes in architecture and visual culture precipitated by Corpus Christi's expanded environment in the 1480s–90s. The convent was tripled in size by the adjacent Casa Romei, bequeathed to the nuns in 1483 by Ferrarese banker Giovanni Romei. The first convent, with its simple church, half-cloister, garden, workrooms, kitchen and dormitory consistent with the Poor Clares vows of poverty was completely transformed into a sprawling, richly decorated residence with four cloisters, dormitories, multiple kitchens and parlatorios where nuns, novices and students visited with families and maintained contact with the secular world. The population grew from 90 women in 1464 to 130 women by 1475, 142 women by 1497, and around 150 with several boarding students or educande by c.1506. The space for educande, as well as apartments where d’Este family members retired for religious retreats, created a new religious civic identity, as well as an educational mission. Bounded by Via Pergolato, Via Campofranco, Via Savonarola and Via Praisolo, the convent occupied a whole city block that from the eighteenth century onwards was referred to as the ‘Clarissan Island’.