Frontispiece of Scivias, showing Hildegard receiving a vision, dictating to Volmar, and sketching on a wax tablet 

This illuminated manuscript frontispiece, created by Hildegard of Bingen, depicts the influential 12th-century German Benedictine abbess receiving a vision. Hildegard is shown writing on a wax tablet while dictating to her scribe, Volmar. The depiction of the vision, emanating from above Hildegard's head, highlights her role as a religious visionary and author. This image, from the book Scivias, demonstrates the importance of religious art in medieval Europe, with its symbolic imagery and emphasis on spiritual experience.