Design: Luigi Caccia Dominioni, 1953

The Monachella lamp takes its name from the black veil worn by nuns as they go about their daily work and prayers radiating calm and serenity. Luigi Caccia Dominioni captured perfectly the demure and gentle presence of a nun in the subtle, downward position and angle of the lampshade.

Whether lighting up the book you are reading, or focusing in on a special object or part of a room, this lamp is modesty personified. In keeping with the Benedictine order’s motto “pray and work”, the Monachella operates dutifully and can be raised higher or lowered down the stem for optimal illumination. But over and above fulfilling its purpose as a tall reading lamp it is an object of contemplation and meditation. Monachella was designed in 1953 at the same time Caccia Dominioni was working on the Convent and Institute of the Beata Vergine Addolorata in Milan as a residence for a women’s religious institute. Inspiration for the lamp may well have come from the architect’s meetings with those commissioning this building that deftly combines solidity with spirituality.