Description

St. Hildegard leans over, studying a handful of tansy, writing board in hand, ready to take notes about yet another medicinal plant for her two books on modern medicine and natural history, this research, done in the 1100’s is to this day noted for its quality.

The other plants in her garden, starting bottom left are oregano, licorice, chamomile, meadowsweet, yarrow, fennel; and on the right starting from the bottom are milk thistle, tansy, sage, thyme and lemon balm.

These are several most popular plants that Hildegard wrote about, according to blogs, though she wrote about hundreds of plants, and her book Physica writes about not just plants but elements, trees, stones, fish, birds, animals, reptiles, and metals, and their medicinal qualities.

Surrounding her in the sky are cherub angels, the Holy Spirit as a dove, and a tongue of fire alighting her head; she was a mystic and visionary, having visions both prophetic and apocryphal from a very young age that would continue her whole life and be approved as valid in her 40s when she brought them up with her confessor. He then helped her write them down, which ended in one full book that cataloged her early visions and many letters which catalogue her later visions.

She is also the patron saint of music and writers due to her poetic and compositional writings, as well as her numerous academic, scientific, and historical writings and writing her own language for the fun of it. To top it off, she was an artist and numerous paintings of hers survive.

In the convent, she entered at the age of 15 and became prioress at the age of 36. Shown in the image is the large cross she would have worn to signify this rank.

It is said her order would have worn the crown to signify the crown of thorns, and that their veils were white, though I only saw evidence of white under black in my research. This is the common symbolism used in her canonization image.

Her canonization occurred in 2012, bestowing her the title through a fun status called “equivalent canonization” meaning the Church formalized her sanctity based on the people’s veneration of her through the centuries. She was also declared a Doctor of the Church, one of four women with the title.

She lived from 1098-1179

The path is grass because it was pretty. It probably would have been gravel or something else to stop the weeds. The plants are also all in bloom regardless of seasonality, which I did not even bother to check, as a symbol of heavenly abundance, and not at all because non-flowering herbs all look exactly the same from a distance and are significantly less pretty.

_______________________

Have an idea you want me to paint? Feel free to reach out at outpouringoftrust@gmail.com with your idea!

Want a print in a size not listed, material not listed, or assembled with a simple frame? Shoot me an email and I’ll let you know if it’s possible!

____________________

Images subject to copyright, copyright Monica Skrzypczak. Do not reproduce without explicit written permission. To use the image in print at your parish, or any other use, feel free to email me with the project and number of copies estimated for a quote on a temporary license.

____________________

Purchase does not include frame.

Staging photos are not necessarily accurate representations of the size of the image, but simply give an idea of the image in a room. Please measure your actual wall before deciding.