Although the situation appears to be changing rather rapidly, it
would appear that the study of manuscript illuminations associated
with Hildegard of Bingen lags far behind other aspects of Hildegard
studies. The problem is made more difficult by the disappearance,
since the Second World War, of the Scivias manuscript from Wiesbaden
(formerly Hessische Landsebibliothek MS. 1), although a close copy of
it was made in the 1920s. The only other manuscript I am aware of
(through ignorance only; I know of no corpus of her illuminated
works) is her Book of Divine Works in Lucca (Bibl. Statale MS. 1942).
The copies of the Wiesbaden Scivias have been published (and may
still be in print) by Matthew Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of
Bingen (Santa Fe, New Mexico, Bear & Company, 1985), accompanied by
a text that relates them to something called "creation spirituality".
Other references, which I have at second hand are: Adelgundis
Fuhrkotter, De Miniaturen van het bock Scivias: ken de wegen van de
heilige Hildegard van Bingen uit de verluchte prachtkodex van de
Rupersberg (Leiden, 1977), this may be the same as her volume in the
Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis XLIIIa (Turnholti,
1978), but I don't know; Maura Bockeler, ed., Wisse die Wege (Berlin,
1928; 2nd edn with colour plates but without descriptions, Salzburg,
1954); L. Baillet, "Les miniatures du 'Scivias' de Sainte
Hildegarde," Fondation Eugene Piot: Monuments et memoires publiees
par l'academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres, XIX (Paris, 1911),
pp. 49-149; Charles Singer, "The Scientific Views and Visions of
Saint Hildegard (1098-1180)," Studies in the History and Method of
Science, ed. Charles Singer (Oxford, 19117), pp. 1-55; J.B. Pitra,
Analecta Sacra, VIII: Sanctae Hildegardis Opera Spicilegio Solesmensi
Paraata (Monte Cassino, 1882). I believe more and more work is being
done on this, but I don't have references to any more recent
articles, etc. readily to hand.
Cheers,
Jim Bugslag
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