Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



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  • Title: Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard
  • Creator: Lippi, Filippino, painter
  • Description: Mary and accompanying angels approach St. Bernard of Clairvaux, leading saint of the Cistercian Order. According to the "Golden Legend," the Virgin appeared to Bernard to offer him encouragement when he felt too weak and ill to continue writing. The open Bible pages near Mary’s face recount the Annunciation from the book of Saint Luke. Hidden among the rocks behind Bernard are an owl and a devil in chains. The chained devil represents Bernard’s defeat of heresy, and the owl symbolizes Satan due to its nocturnal nature. The patron occupies the lower right corner.
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons: Web Gallery of Art #13086
  • Rights: Public domain
  • Subject (See Also): Angels Bernard of Clairvaux, Theologian, Saint Benedictine Order Books Cistercian Order Jacob of Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa- Legenda Aurea Mary, Virgin, Saint
  • Geographic Area: Italy
  • Century: 15
  • Date: 1486
  • Related Work:
  • Current Location: Florence, Badia Church
  • Original Location: Florence, Santa Maria del Santo Sepolcro, Monasterio delle Campora, del Pugliese family chapel. Le Campora was a Benedictine house for monks located outside the walls of Florence.
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Paintings
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Wood; Oil tempera; Panel paintings
  • Donor: Layman; Piero di Francesco del Pugliese, Florentine merchant. He commissioned many important works of art and copied a manuscript of Bernard’s writings for the monastery of Le Campora.
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 210 cm/195 cm/
  • Inscription: “In rebus dubiis Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca” [In matters which raise doubts, think of Mary, invoke Mary] Located on the frame. See Timothy Verdon. Mary in Western Art. Hudson Mills Press, 2005. Page 211.
  • Related Resources: David L. Clark, "Filippino Lippi's The Virgin Inspiring St. Bernard and Florentine Humanism," Studies in Iconography 7-8 (1981-82), pages 175-187.