Mythical beings and prodigious plants in the herbarii in the Romanesque period

Lara de Mérode, Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgique) This conference examines the notion and presence of “wonders” in pharmaco-botanical treatises, or herbarii, during the Romanesque period. Starting from the question of the meaning of “wonder” in this field of natural history, a reflection will follow on the presence not only of plants but also of…

From wonder to sanctity. Saint Christopher and the Cynocephalae (High and Middle Ages)

Jacqueline Leclercq-Marx, Université libre de Bruxelles (Belgique) The Cynocephali or Dog Heads are not as common in pre-Romanesque art as other human-animal hybrids coming from Late Antique culture. Nonetheless, they have a significant role there and above all particularly in that they befit generally from a powerful push to humanize them. However disconcerting humans may…

Vision, insignia, relic: the crown of Hildegard of Bingen (Fondation Abegg, Riggisberg)

Philippe Cordez, Centre allemand d’Histoire de l’Art (Paris) Hildegard of Bingen’s crown is a recent discovery. Since the early Middle Ages, nuns were given a crown as part of the blessing ritual that marked their status as virgins. Around 1150, the Rhineland nun Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), a theoretician and important player in the ecclesiastical…