St Hildegard Of Bingen Analysis

St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was a German composer, poet, philosopher, mystic, linguist, botanist, and medical theorist. She left us with about seventy poems and nine books. Two of them are books of medical and pharmaceutical advice about the human body and the properties of herbs. She was an influential and spiritual woman whose loyal devotion led the way for future generations of women to be successful in fields such as theology, medicine, music and art. At a very early age, she experienced visions of a powerful light, but she hid her prophetic abilities until much later in life. At the age of eight she went to the Benedictine Monastery at Mount St. Disibode to be educated. Hildegard died in 1179 and it wasn’t until Pope Benedict XVI
Some of her works include The Choir of Angels from the Rupertsberg manuscript which shows Hildegard’s brilliant mandala-like image of concentric circles that signify the presence of the Lord. This vision of the cosmic egg represents the universe. The Cultivating the Cosmic Tree with a self portrait includes the symbol of the tree which is a recognizable symbol of the tree of life. The Book of Divine Works is illustrated with miniatures representing man and the universe and was created sometime in the 13th century. Included is Universal man which represents an ideal of perfection, but it is neither Classical nor scientific. The nun in the lower left corner with an open book may be a depiction of Hildegard. She saw a series of concentric circles, including circles of air, fire and clouds, and then a body appeared in the center. The body is proportioned perfectly much like Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man and they appear similar which is very interesting. I think what makes her different from other artists of the time is the fact that her works included her visions. Of interest to me is the fact that if it is her pictured in several of her works, she is shown in the left lower corner and appears as an observer in