Suggestioni agiografiche nella monarchia italiana fra Otto e Novecento: Maria Clotilde di Savoia-Napoleone (1843-1911)

This article traces the story of Maria Clotilde of Savoy (1843-1911), a noblewoman whose process of beatification, begun in the 1930s, was never completed. The life of Vittorio Emanuele II’s daughter was conditioned by the political-diplomatic situation within the context of national unification; at the same time, it was also characterized by a spiritual tension that deepened in her later years as the princess, thanks to her religious practices and charitable works, was greatly admired, whilst stirring up devotion among those who revered her as a sort of “living saint”. Such feelings strengthened after the princess’s death, and after the Concordat the conditions were ripe for launching a beatification process. However, this process ended up being undermined by the changing climate and transformations leading to new and different models of female sanctity after World War II.