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Primary sourcePainting12th century

Scivias Frontispiece Miniature

12th century

A miniature from Scivias showing Hildegard receiving divine inspiration and recording it on a wax tablet while her secretary Volmar looks on.

This miniature is believed to be the only image of Hildegard made in or near her own lifetime, showing her receiving and recording her visions.

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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.
Frontispiece miniature, Scivias, 12th century.

About this source

What it is

This painted miniature illustrates the opening of Hildegard's Scivias. It shows a figure with flowing hair writing on a wax tablet at a desk, with a second face visible beside her, understood to be her secretary Volmar.

Why it matters

This image is described as the only picture of Hildegard made in or near her own lifetime, making it an unusually direct visual record of how she and her community wanted her visionary authority to be remembered. It shows her actively recording her visions rather than simply receiving them, emphasizing her role as both mystic and author, alongside Volmar who helped her write.

Look closer

  • What does showing Hildegard writing, rather than just seeing a vision, tell us about how she wanted to be remembered?
  • Why might Volmar be included in this image?
  • What choices did the illustrator make about color and composition, and what might they be trying to show?

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

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

Grid of about 23 invented glyph-like characters arranged in three rows, drawn in black ink on a white background. The symbols are angular and curly, resembling an unknown alphabet, the Lingua Ignota script.Document

Primary source

Lingua Ignota

Hildegard of Bingen · c. 1200 (manuscript copies)

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