Conrad Rudolph, professor of medieval art history at the University of California, Riverside, has visually reconstructed Hugh of Saint Victor's Mystic Ark. Based on his careful textual analysis, Professor Rudolph concluded that Hugh of Saint Victor painted the Mystic Ark for use as a teaching aid in conjunction with lectures that Hugh gave at Saint Victor between 1125 and 1130. Hugh's painting has not survived. The image below, courtesy of Professory Rudolph, is a fully detailed reconstruction of that painting. Professor Rudolph premiered this visual reconstruction at lectures he gave at the National Gallery of Art in December, 2008.
Professor Rudolph's research on the Mystic Ark will be published in a forthcoming scholarly book. Consult that book for Professor Rudolph's authoritative presentation of the results of his research on Hugh of Saint Victor and the Mystic Ark.
