Philosophia Divitur: The Ecodiagrammatic Patterns of the Pierpont Morgan, M. 982 Leaf

This article explores the diagram found on the recto side of Pierpont Morgan, M. 982, a single leaf from a twelfth-century manuscript held by the Morgan Library and Museum in New York, and believed to originate in the scriptorium of Saint Peter’s Abbey in Salzburg, Austria. The diagram represents knowledge as an ‘ecodiagrammatic’ pattern, depicting the relationship of hierarchical organisms through a fluid cascading system. Spanning riparian, fluvial, and corporeal symbolism, the diagram represents knowledge as a process of expanding categories from unitary source to manifold destinations. Furthermore, it demonstrates the ecological nature of typology, with multiple forms of ecological diagram merging to form a broad ontological pattern spanning metaphysical hierarchies.