| Naples Dioscurides | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Provenance | Biblioteca Nazionale |
| Series | Dioscurides |
| Codex ex Vindobonensis Graecus 1 | |
| Subject | Herbology |
| Period covered | 7th Century |
The Naples Dioscurides, in the Biblioteca Nazionale, Naples (MS Suppl. gr. 28), is an early 7th-century secular illuminated manuscript Greek herbal. The book has 172 folios and a page size of 29.7 x 14 cm (11 11/16 x 5 1/2 inches) and the text is a redaction of De Materia Medica by the 1st century Greek military physician Dioscorides, with descriptions of plants and their medicinal uses.[1] Unlike De Materia Medica, the text is arranged alphabetically by plant.
The patron who commissioned it and the craftsmen who worked on the manuscript have not been identified. The style of Greek script used in the manuscript indicates that it was probably written in Byzantine-ruled southern Italy, where ancient Greek cultural traditions remained strong, although it is not known exactly where it was produced.
The codex derives independently[2] from the same model as the Vienna Dioscurides, which was created ca. 512 for a Byzantine princess, but differs from it significantly.[3] Additionally, in the Naples manuscript, the illustrations occupy the top half of each folio, rather than being full page miniatures as in the Vienna Dioscurides. The script is somewhat rough and uneven, and the painting style of the miniatures less precise and naturalistic than the Vienna manuscript, indicating a certain falling-off in standards.[4]
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:0was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ David H. Wright, "Traditio and Inventio in Iconographic Transmission," Eighth Byzantine Studies Conference, Chicago 1982
- ^ Dioscorides, Pedanius. "Of Medical Substances". Library of Congress World Digital Library Collection. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
- ^ Weitzmann, 206-207