I m a g e s

It is not easy to convey a complex gestural system in words alone. That is why, over the centuries, scribes and artists drew, printed, and painted diagrams depicting the ancient finger-counting system.

Medieval illuminators adopted a wide range of visual strategies to present these gestures. Sometimes they depicted the full system, sometimes only a selection. Sometimes they arranged the images in columns, rows, or grids. Sometimes the figures were integrated into the text, and at other times they were presented separately.

Far from our modern minimalist approach to data visualization, medieval representations of finger-counting are often rhetorically and allegorically rich. They may be brightly colored, heavily ornamented, and full of visual puns.

Here you will find a selection of such images, mostly drawn from medieval manuscripts, accompanied by brief commentary. Together, they reflect different periods, regions, and approaches to finger-reckoning.