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Secondary sourcePainting1965 (design); photographed 2012

Trinity Altar Mosaic Based on a Scivias Illumination

Ludwig Baur · 1965 (design); photographed 2012

A 1965 mosaic in Eibingen's parish church copying an illustration from Hildegard's own manuscript Scivias.

A later artwork copying an illumination from Hildegard's own Scivias manuscript, showing her lasting influence.

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A mosaic altarpiece depicting the Trinity, based on an illumination from Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias manuscript.
Ludwig Baur (design), Trinity altar mosaic based on a Scivias illumination, 1965. Church of St. Hildegard, Eibingen.

About this source

What it is

This mosaic altar image in the Catholic parish church of St. Hildegard at Eibingen was designed in 1965 by the artist Ludwig Baur. It is based directly on a plate from the Scivias manuscript, a visionary text written by Hildegard of Bingen, specifically the illumination showing the Trinity.

Why it matters

The mosaic demonstrates how Hildegard's original visionary artwork, created centuries earlier, continued to inspire religious art long after her death. It connects her written and illustrated theological visions to a modern church setting, showing her lasting influence on Christian art and spirituality.

Look closer

  • Why might a church in the 1960s choose to base new artwork on a medieval manuscript illumination?
  • What might be gained or lost when an image is copied from a manuscript page into a large mosaic?
  • What does this mosaic suggest about how later Christians understood and valued Hildegard's visions?

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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