About the Work

This highly unusual northern Italian herbal, filled with almost 400 drawings of plants, was most probably used as a workbook with botanical sketches for apprentices of a high-end workshop. However, the high degree of naturalism in the illustrations could just as well point to a precursor to the first real botanical compendiums, which start to flourish in the 16th century. Labels in different languages identify many of the plants, documenting continuous use of this work- and study book throughout the 16th to the 17th centuries.

The majority of the botanical depictions in this hitherto unstudied manuscript are astonishingly lifelike, bearing witness to late 15th and early 16th centuries illustrators’ renewed interest in the accurate observation of nature. In addition to the plants, this herbal also features individually scattered, luscious fruits, as well as insects and a lizard. The arrangement of the botanical depictions, sometimes with two, three or more plants on one page left no space for further explanatory text, focusing entirely on the visual representation of the countless plants, ranging from Chamomile to White Poppy.

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Literature

Pächt, Otto. ‘Die früheste abendländische Kopie der Illustrationen des Wiener
Dioskurides’. Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 38 (1975): 201–214 (esp. p. 210, n. 13).

Arber, Agnes. Herbals. Their Origin and Evolution. A Chapter in the History of Botany. 1470 - 1670 . Cambridge University Press, 1912.