O Rubor Sanguinis
O rubor sanguinis
antiphon to St. Ursula
O rubor sanguinis,
qui de excelso illo fluxisti,
quo Divinitas tetigit,
tu flos es,
quem hiems de flatu serpentis
numquam laesit.
Hildegard von Bingen
A Statement
This series of paintings came about through experiment
with coloring the backgrounds of the seed series. However, the
formal element of the red opaque matte pigment revealed a not
completely conscious interpretation very much related to profound
changes in my physical and emotional cycles.
As a member of a women's choir dedicated to performing
medieval repetoire, I am constantly learning works by Hildegard
von Bingen. One of the recurring images in her work is O Rubor
Sanguinis, the river of blood. This river sometimes appears as
the blood flowing from Christ's death wound, and sometimes as
the Rhine in homage to the martyrdom of St. Ursula and her companions,
the 11,000 virgins whose blood flowed in the river. Moreover,
for Hildegard, moisture and high contrast melody are metaphors
for life, for salvation. It is difficult for me to separate the
power of these images as the result of religious vision from the
fact that Hildegard's visions began during her forties, when many
of us physically experience rivers of blood. At a time when my
reproductive system altered my capacity for procreation, I became
very much aware of the multiplicity of possible children, possible
lives which would not mature. Since we have our ovae from birth,
which cycle each month during menses, which are left? Amazed at
the variety and potentiality, I am grateful for the one who has
matured and the environment which has nurtured him.
Alice Dubiel October 1999
