Dioscorides (Anazarbus, Cilicia, about 40 CE - 90 CE)
Leaf from an Arabic translation of De Materia Medica by Dioscorides: Verbena Recta (Recto) and Verbena Supina (Verso), 1224
Ink and watercolor on paper, 29.5 x 21.5 cm (11 5/8 x 8 7/16 in.)
This is an illuminated leaf from a thirteenth-century Arabic medicinal manuscript. On the recto, or front of the leaf, there are five lines of Arabic text, written in brown ink with red accents. After the first two lines of text, a large illustration disrupts the writing. This illustration depicts a dark green plant with seven leaves and a small root system. Three blue birds perch on the leaves. On the verso, or back, there is a similar horticultural illustration. Here, two small plants with green leaves, and blue and red flowers flank a large plant. This large central plant has a wide brown root system and three leafy branches that end in a yellow orb-shaped flower. Underneath this illustration, there are four lines of Arabic text.
Tapestry Room
Commentary
These illustrations of medicinal plants were added to a manuscript translation of a medical treatise by Dioscurides, originally written in the first century AD. The Greek text was frequently translated into Arabic; this sheet is from a copy by Abdallah ibn al-Fadl which is dated 1224.
Source: Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 170.
Source: Eye of the Beholder, edited by Alan Chong et al. (Boston: ISGM and Beacon Press, 2003): 170.