" the fiery life of divine essence"

Hildegard receiving a vision, from the Scivas.
Yes, that is gold leaf in the background.

When I started this project I intended the focus to be on women who were primarily two-dimensional artists, with an occasional sculptress thrown in for good measure. With that as my self-appointed mission I originally thought to pass by Hildegard von Bingen. You know, the medieval mystic, scientist, herbalist, doctor, poet and political critic…but artist? I just couldn’t put her in that box.

As I tried to move on to other artists that fit my mold, I kept being pulled back to Hildegard if for no other reason than her general bad-assery (it’s a thing…look it up). For example – did you know that she saw her first vision at the age of three? And those visions continued for much of her life? Or that, at thirteen, she went to live with a religious woman named Jutta of Sponheim who educated her in Latin, scripture, reading and writing. Or, because of the constraints against women’s participation in the church, and likely fear of being seen as mentally ill,  she didn’t talk much about her visions until she was 42 years old? (when she did tell it was with what is likely her best known work -- the Scivas (Know the Ways) -- which describes 26 of her most vivid visions.  Did you know that when she was sixty, she put undertook lengthy preaching tours, something that was as unusual for a woman then as it would be today?  (Hummm….today it would have been a book signing tour for the Scivas)

Illumination from the Scivias, Cultivating the Cosmic Tree. 
Check out the tiny Hildegard in the lower left corner.

It is the Scivas, along with a series of nine books on the different natures of trees, plants, animals, birds, fish, minerals, and metal that made me pause. The illuminations in these works are amazing. The colors are bright and vibrant. The forms are simple, while the messages sometimes complex. Some scholars believe that these works were illustrated by Hildegard, others think that she had help, but all agree that she served as ‘art director’. Many of the illuminations in the Scivias take the form of mandalas symbolizing the universe, reverence for life and the Divine Presence on Earth.

Around the same time that the Scivias was completed Hildegard also produced one of her more intriguing works. The Ordo Virtutum is a sacred musical drama about the struggle for a human soul, between the Virtues and the Devil. Some scholars have gone as far as to call it opera, and many agree that it was the first morality play in Europe.

Music, art, poetry, and scientific study. Hildegard was definitely ahead of her time, very much a Renaissance woman.

"I, the fiery life of divine essence, am aflame beyond the beauty of the meadows."

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

Oh those German Nuns!

The records of women artists in the 9th - 13th centuries are filled with talented nuns from Germany.   Diemud, Clarica, Gisela of Kerzenbroeck and Guda are just a few. Okay, then there was Hildegard von Bingen, who is undoubtedly in a class by her self. They had a lot in common. Most were from wealthy, if not noble families. In many cases they began their service at a young age. These women were able to gain education and livelyhood by joining the church, coincidentally being able to lead a life more of their choosing. For now I'll share a bit about Diemud and Guda.

Diemud/Diemudis/Diemoth. Most of what is known about Diemud is based on tradition. She is thought to have been born of a noble Bavarian or Swabian family in 1057. Diemud entered the Wessobrunn monastery as an adult; her handwriting shows evidence of professional training. Some suggest that Diemud came to Wessobrunn after an active career as a professional scribe. Her knowledge of Latin indicates that she was educated at an ecclesiastical institute, probably a monastery elsewhere in Germany.

After a long period of severe probation in the nunnery Diemud obtained permission to live the life of a recluse. She had herself enclosed in a cell adjoining the church, where she spent the remainder of her life in prayer and in transcribing valuable books.

A 15th century historian wrote that Diemud was an active scribe and the amount of work she produced “exceeded what could be done by several men.” By her own writings, we know that she transcribed 45 major works. She was fairly well known in her lifetime; her works fetching high prices on the open market and were often given as gifts to important church officials. She created ‘a Missal with Gradual and Sequences’ that went to the Bishop if Trier, and a ‘book of Offices with the Baptismal Service’ that was given to the bishop of Ausburg. (As of this writing I have not been able to locate copies of her illustrations, even though they reportedly still exist.)

So, what do we know about Diemud? She was well educated, very talented, left a large body of work behind and made a name for herself in a male dominated occupation. Not a bad legacy to leave behind!

Guda. Guda was truly a bad-ass. We only know her today because she had the audacity to paint a self portrait of herself into one of her illuminations - and to sign it! along side she wrote, "Guda, a sinner, wrote and painted this book.” She is believed to be the first woman to sign her work.

Guda's self-portrait in an initial letter in a Homeliary (now in the Frankfurt am Main, Staatsbibliothek)

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Cyrus, Cynthia J. The Scribes For Women's Convents in Late Medieval Germany

Eckenstein, Lina. Woman under Monasticism

Ott, M. (1908). Diemoth. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved August 9, 2019 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04785c.htm

Chicago, Judy. The Dinner Party: Restoring Women to History

In the beginning....

Woman artist painting statue of Priapus Fresco from the Casa del Chirurgo

My intention for this blog is to document the lives and works of these women, share their stories, and show their art. Because I like things that are liner and orderly, and because I like to know how things begin,I'm beginning with a few of the earliest artists: Kora, Thamar and Ende. Technically these women are pre-Middle Ages and Rennaissance, but are, I believe critical to the story of women in art.

Kora (or Callirhoe) was born in Sicyon (ancient Greece) around 650 BCE. IT is said that Kora was very beautiful and had many suitors. She apparently favored one above the others because she drew a charcoal portrait of him on the wall. Her father, Dibutades of Sicyon, a respected potter and sculpture, took the drawing and from it created the first relief. Little else is known about Kora as an artist; she did go on to marry the young man that she drew the picture of. She is mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History.

Thamar, also known as Tamar and Thamyris and Timarete, was once thought to be a myth. In fact, she was a real person, a Greek painter who lived in the 5th century B.C.  Thamar was the daughter of Micon the Younger of Athens, a well-known and respected painter. Less interested in the running of a household and more interested in painting, Thamar apparently began working alongside her father. She too is  mentioned by Pliny. Of Thamar Pliny says, "she scorned the duties of women and practiced her father's art."  She was best known in Pliny's time for a panel painting of the Goddess Diana (Artemis) which was displayed in the Goddess's temple at Epheseus. Unfortunately, the temple, along with Thamar's work, was destroyed in either a Goth invasion in the Third Century or  by an anti-pagan mob led by Saint John Chrysostom in the 400s A.D. (Historians disagree on who gets the credit for the destruction.) Sadly, none of her work remains, so we are left to appreciate her effort through the words of Pliney.

Ende, is believed to be a Spanish nun that was a manuscript illuminator in the 10th-century. She was a collaborator on a set of manuscripts, which contain the Commentary on the Apocalypse compiled by the Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana in 786. Her signature appears in the Beatus located now at the Girona cathedral, known as Girona Beatus but maybe she worked in some other codex.

The Last Judgment, painted by Ende, from the Gerona Beatus

The manuscripts were created in a monastery in the mountains of Leon in northwest Spain. There are a number of hands discernible in the manuscripts. The chief painter was likely a priest called Senior. Historians have also attributed elements of the manuscripts to Emetrius, whose style is attributable in comparison to an earlier signed work. The third attributable hand is that of Ende. She signed the work as DEPINTRIX (painter) and DIE AIUTRIX (helper of god). It is thought that Ende may be the first european artist that is recorded by history.

Frank, Priscilla. These Are The Revolutionary Women Artists Of The 15th Through 19th Centuries http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/23/women-artists-_n_6904390.html

Gonzalez, Sandra. Ende: The woman who illustrated the Apocalypse. https://mujeresartistasfemaleartists.wordpress.com/2016/10/18/ende-the-woman-who-illustrated-the-apocalypse-english/