Speculum Virginum

Description Conservation Exhibitions Provenance Credit

Description This manuscript, written at the Cistercian abbey of Himmerode in Germany in the early thirteenth century, is one of twenty-two surviving Latin copies of the Speculum virginum, or Mirror for virgins. Attributed to Conrad of Hirsau, the text was written in the first half of the twelfth century as a guide for nuns, offering them theological lessons in the form of a hypothetical conversation between a teacher, Peregrinus, and his student, Theodora. The twelve illustrations in the manuscript portray the protagonists as well as the mystical visions and diagrams they discuss in the text. The large, expressive pen drawings bring the text to life and are an excellent example of German art of this period.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
7/04/2013	Treatment	tears repaired
8/21/2015	Treatment	examined for exhibition; media consolidation

Exhibitions

Illuminated Manuscripts: Masterpieces in Miniature. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1984-1985.
Schatzkammer: Henry Walters' German Manuscripts. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2006.
The Saint John's Bible: A Modern Vision through Medieval Methods. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2009.
Living by the Book: Monks, Nuns, and Their Manuscripts. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2013.

Provenance Cistercian abbey of Himmerode, Wittlich, Germany, by 15th century [erased ownership note, "Liber monachorum sancte Marie in hymmenrode ordinis Cisterciensis Treverensis dyocesis," fol. 1r, Shelfmark C.I.]; Josef von Görres collection, Germany, 19th century [mode of acquisition unknown]; Görres Collection Sale, Munich, 1902 [Catal.libr.mss no. 76 (no. 71 in unpublished, pre-1844 catalog of manuscripts when kept in Koblenz by Ernst Dronke)]; Julien Chappée, Le Mans and Paris, 1902, by purchase [Lot 76, p. 14]; Gruel and Engelmann Collection, Paris, 1903 [no. 88, bookplate on front pastedown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, June 9, 1903 [mode of acquisition unknown] [bookplate on front pastedown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters

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Creators

Period

1st quarter 13th century (Gothic)

Medium

ink and pigments on cream-colored parchment of medium thickness with a velvety finish covered with 16th or 17th century boards covered in red velvet and embellished with a thirteenth-century Limoges champlevé enamel crucifix
(Manuscripts & Rare Books)

Accession Number

W.72

Measurements

Closed Book: H: 13 1/8 × W: 9 5/8 × D: 2 5/8 in. (33.4 × 24.4 × 6.6 cm)

Geographies

Germany, Wittlich (Place of Origin)

Location Within Museum

Not On View

Leaf from Speculum Virginum	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.83R	Accession

Binding from Speculum Virginum	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.binding	Accession

The Ladder of St. Perpetua	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.82V	Accession

The Flesh and the Spirit	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.73R	Accession

The Thirty, Sixty, and Hundredfold Fruits	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.61R	Accession

Leaf from Speculum Virginum: Christ in Majesty Flanked by Mary, John the Evangelist, and Saints with a Kneeling Monk	Title
1st quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.98R	Accession

The Quadriga: Virgin and Child with John the Baptist and John the Evangelist	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.41R	Accession

Victory of Humility over Pride	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.31R	Accession

Tree of Virtues	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.26R	Accession

Tree of Vices	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.25V	Accession

Peregrinus and Theodora	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.16V	Accession

Mystic Form of Paradise	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.12R	Accession

Seven Forms of the Spirit	Title
first quarter 13th century	Period
W.72.104R	Accession