In the present study, Andrea von Hülsen-Esch researches group representations of the universitas, i.e. scholars, students and scholars in the Middle Ages. With the help of the pictorial representations, she throws new light on the emergence, constitution and institutionalization of academic groups and thus makes an important contribution to research into group portraits. Taking into account the different methodological discourses in art history and history, she analyzes the various forms of representation of the academic groups in medieval pictorial representations from Italy and France, with particular attention to the study of the clothing of scholars.