Baudovinia

Baudonivia created a portrait of a devout yet politically shrewd woman who used her worldly power to sustain the monastery.

[4] Her work has been characterized as faithful to the picture painted by Venantius Fortunatus, but more significantly influenced by the ideology of Caesarius of Arles's Regula Virginum with the clear purpose of providing a model of sanctity for the nuns of her generation.

According to Professor Lynda L. Coon, Fortunatus depicts Radegund emphasizes her asceticism, while Baudonivia stresses her role as astute politician, her administrative achievements, and her traveling to collect relics and, most importantly, her efforts to gain a fragment of the True Cross from Byzantine Emperor Justin II.

[3] Venantius focuses on the humble life of Radegund, dedicated to caring for the poor, those suffering from leprosy, and the most derelict.

That of Baudovinia tells a completely different story, giving the image of an indomitable woman with great mental autonomy who also reserved her inexhaustible energy for recreational or culinary activities, and spent her time not only in prayer and penance, but also in intense political activity, kept quiet by Venantius.

Illuminated Manuscript of St. Radegund inspired, in part, by the work of Baudonivia