Getty Museum

Saint Hedwig Listening to a Reading; Saint Hedwig Praying

Date

1353

Medium

Tempera colors, colored washes, and ink

Culture

Silesian

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

In both of these scenes, Hedwig is represented in such an intense state of devotion that she is oblivious to her surroundings. At the top, she listens so intently to a mealtime reading that she brings food to her mouth but fails to eat it. This scene reflects the common practice in medieval monasteries and nunneries of having monks and nuns listen to a devotional text while eating in the communal dining hall or refectory. Hearing texts read aloud, it was believed, would raise the minds of the listeners to thoughts more spiritual than the needs of the flesh that were being met by food. The lower scene shows Hedwig in an ecstatic state, indicated by the rays of light that surround her as she is lost in prayer. A man looks into her room through a little window and is startled by the extraordinary sight.

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