Skip to content
Do you know this woman?
All artists
No. 01Middle Ages
Medieval illumination: a nun seated under an arch, tongues of flame descending on her head, writing on a wax tablet while a monk peers in.Romanesque illumination

Hildegard of Bingen

1098 – 1179 · Germany

Abbess, composer, scientist — and she drew her visions.

Hildegard receives a vision (from Scivias), c. 1151–1179. Hildegard of Bingen. Public domain · Source: Wikimedia Commons

Illumination · Music · Writing

Hildegard of Bingen

1098 – 1179 · Germany

A Benedictine abbess on the Rhine who wrote about theology, medicine and plants, composed music and founded her own convent. Her visionary book Scivias came with striking painted images of what she saw.

Know more on Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)

Fact file

Born
1098
Died
1179
Country
Germany
Era
Middle Ages
Style
Romanesque illumination
Disciplines
Illumination, Music, Writing
Key work
Hildegard receives a vision (from Scivias) (c. 1151–1179)
Medium
Illumination on parchment (known from a facsimile)

Curiosity!

Documented

More of her music survives than from almost any other named composer of the Middle Ages — around 70 chants, plus a sung morality play, Ordo Virtutum.

What we know (and what we don’t)

  • Documented

    She founded the convent of Rupertsberg near Bingen around 1150.

  • It is believed

    It is believed the Scivias illuminations were made under her direction; whether she designed them herself is not certain.

  • Documented

    The original illuminated manuscript has been missing since 1945. The images survive through a hand-painted copy made in the 1920s.

Where to see her

On view right now

Museums that own her work

Owning isn’t always showing: works rotate, go into storage or travel on loan — check before you go.

Hunting for a show we missed?

Google Arts & Culture(opens in a new tab) Web search(opens in a new tab)

Exhibition list last checked 25 Oct 2026.