Ingrid Bergman, The Nun 314 is one of three silkscreen prints from Andy Warhol’s Ingrid Bergman portfolio. The work portrays the Swedish actress in her role as Sister Mary Benedict from the 1945 film The Bells of St. Mary’s. Bergman appears front-facing, wearing a traditional nun’s habit, her hands clasped in prayer. Her calm yet commanding gaze meets the viewer directly. Warhol surrounds her with intersecting blocks of vivid orange, yellow, cyan, pink, and light blue, each contrasting against the deep black of her veil and background. Fine yellow contour lines trace her face, eyes, and lips, while bright pink accents enliven her expression. The combination of abstraction and portraiture transforms a cinematic still into an icon of sanctity and stardom.
The Ingrid Bergman Portfolio in Context
Warhol’s Ingrid Bergman portfolio was commissioned and published in 1983 by Galerie Börjeson in Malmö, Sweden. The project honored Bergman as one of the nation’s most celebrated Academy Award–winning actresses. The series consists of three portraits—Herself, With Hat, and The Nun—each based on publicity photographs or film stills. Warhol selected images from Casablanca (1942), The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945), and a studio headshot. These images represented different facets of Bergman’s screen persona.
In The Nun, Warhol drew directly from her role as Sister Mary Benedict, one of her most acclaimed and financially successful performances. The film became the top-grossing movie of 1945 and earned Bergman a nomination for Best Actress. The print’s devotional imagery allowed Warhol to merge reverence with irony. Here, he rendered the cinematic depiction of faith through the visual language of Pop Art.
The composition exemplifies Warhol’s 1980s shift toward more graphic abstraction. During this period, he outlined his subjects with drawn lines and layered them over bold geometric color fields. The result, as seen here and in works like Mick Jagger and Reigning Queens, is a fusion of portraiture and design. The vivid blocks of color flatten the image, while the delicate yellow outlines preserve its human presence. This visual duality—part mechanical, part spiritual—captures Bergman as both actress and icon.
Ingrid Bergman, The Nun 314 in Warhol’s Larger Body of Work
The Nun continues Warhol’s lifelong exploration of celebrity and image-making. Like his portraits of Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, and Liz Taylor, the work reveals his fascination with how fame transforms individuals into symbols. By reimagining Bergman’s likeness through silkscreen, Warhol elevates her from performer to pop saint—an image both reproducible and immortal.
In this sense, The Nun bridges several themes central to Warhol’s art: mass reproduction, faith, and the allure of beauty. It also reflects the artist’s enduring preoccupation with mortality and transcendence. Just as religious icons invite devotion, Warhol’s celebrity portraits evoke a modern form of worship—the adoration of stars through images.
Ultimately, Ingrid Bergman, The Nun 314 exemplifies Warhol’s ability to turn a familiar cultural figure into something timeless. The work captures the serene mystery of Bergman’s performance while showcasing Warhol’s late-career style—refined, graphic, and deeply aware of how art and fame shape collective imagination.
Photo Credit: Andy Warhol stands in front of one of his paintings of actor Ingrid Bergman as a nun from the film ‘The Bells of Saint Mary’s’ in 1984. © Getty Images
