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Secondary sourcePainting

Old Print of Ildegarda di Bingen

An old print portraying Hildegard of Bingen, likely made after her lifetime, showing how later generations pictured her.

This later print shows an imagined likeness of Hildegard, illustrating her enduring legacy and image.

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An antique print depicting Hildegard of Bingen, likely created after her lifetime.
Unknown artist, Ildegarda di Bingen - stampa antica, date unknown.

About this source

What it is

This is an antique printed image portraying Hildegard of Bingen. Its creator is unknown, and it was likely produced after her lifetime, with the print believed to be in the public domain.

Why it matters

Because no contemporary portrait of Hildegard survives, images like this print show how later artists and communities imagined and remembered her, often shaping popular images of medieval saints and mystics more than recording their actual appearance.

Look closer

  • What clues in the print suggest it was made well after Hildegard's lifetime?
  • How might an artist's imagination fill in details not found in historical records?
  • Why is it important to know that no portrait from Hildegard's own time survives?

This painting 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

Primary source

Scivias

Hildegard of Bingen · 1151-1152

Detail of a painted medieval miniature in orange, red and gold tones. A figure with flowing red hair sits at a desk, writing with a stylus on a tablet. A second face in profile appears at the right edge.Painting

Primary source

Scivias Frontispiece Miniature

12th century

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

Primary source

Wiesbaden Codex

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

Primary source

Liber divinorum operum

Hildegard of Bingen · c. 1163-1174

Front cover of an old manuscript volume bound in worn reddish-brown leather with a dark spine featuring raised bands and small gold floral tooling at the corners and gold edge rules. The cover is scratched and stained.Document

Primary source

Dendermonde Codex

Hildegard of Bingen · c. 1175

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