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Primary sourceBookc. 1210

Liber Divinorum Operum manuscript

Hildegard of Bingen · c. 1210

A richly illuminated early 13th-century manuscript of Hildegard's visionary work The Book of Divine Works, now in Lucca.

This manuscript carries Hildegard's own visionary text, copied and illustrated not long after her death.

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A page from a medieval illuminated manuscript showing Gothic script in two columns with decorated initials.
Liber Divinorum Operum, manuscript copy, c. 1210. State Library of Lucca.

About this source

What it is

This manuscript preserves Hildegard's Liber Divinorum Operum, the last of her three great works of visionary theology, which she composed between 1163 and 1174. It was copied in Gothic handwriting in two columns, with ten full-page miniatures marking the start of each vision, and can be dated to the early 13th century. It is now held in the State Library of Lucca, having come from a monastery there, and this copy is held by the Library of Congress.

Why it matters

This is one of only three surviving transcriptions of the work, and the only one with illustrations, making it a rare window into how Hildegard's visions, describing strange and symbolic imagery explained by the voice of God, were understood and illustrated soon after her lifetime.

Look closer

  • Why do you think only ten visions received full-page pictures?
  • What might the colored initials and marginal notes tell us about how the manuscript was used?
  • How does an illustrated copy change how we understand Hildegard's visions compared to text alone?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hildegard of Bingen on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Illuminated manuscript miniature: an oval mandala of gold flame-like rays and dark red and white bands surrounds a blue field with gold stars, a red-and-white sun or disc at top, and a central cosmic diagram of concentric rings with a bluish-white globe and green figures at top and bottom.Book

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Scivias Frontispiece Miniature

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A large open medieval manuscript codex lies on a dark display stand in a glass case, with a metal chain attached to its binding and a white label reading 'Rupert' at the bottom. The pages show black text in columns and red decorated initials.Book

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Hildegard of Bingen · c. 1200

Medieval illuminated manuscript miniature of the Universal Man: a nude human figure with outstretched arms stands within a large white circle surrounded by concentric rings, red and gray bands, and a red border. A bearded head crowns the top and a red-footed figure appears below. A small seated scribe at lower left writes at a desk.Book

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Liber divinorum operum

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