Dioscorides of Vienna is a Byzantine illuminated manuscript about medicinal plants

In the second half of the 1st century AD. The Roman Empire experienced a period of cultural upliftment and scientific development. One of the outstanding figures of this time is the physician Pedanius Dioscorides, born in Greece, who gained a certain popularity thanks to his work in the field of medicinal plants.

Dioscorides, in addition to his medical activities, served in the Roman army, where he not only treated soldiers, but also studied and collected plants. His significant contribution to the world of medicine is the work "On Medicinal Plants", which later became very famous. This work became an important source of information on the medicinal properties of plants, and it received further development and popularity centuries later.

However, the illuminated manuscript version, better known as the "Vienna Dioscorides" became a real treasury of knowledge. This manuscript was created in Constantinople at the beginning of the 6th century AD. and had a volume of 491 sheets. Its feature was that most of the pages were illustrated, which allowed doctors and botanists to quickly identify plants. In total, there were more than 400 illustrations in the book, and some of them were created by famous ancient doctors.

It is interesting that some drawings are made accurately enough so that doctors who used the treatise could quickly identify the plants. Others may have been borrowed from more ancient herbalists and at the same time depict plants that no longer existed in nature.

An important detail of this manuscript was that it was used not only as a masterpiece of art, but also as a teaching aid. In the imperial hospital, the manuscript served as a source of knowledge for medical practice. Over time, copies of this work were sent to various rulers, and its popularity only grew.

One of the mysterious moments in the history of "Vienna Dioscorides" was its possible commission by Juliana Anicia, the daughter of Emperor Olybrius.

This manuscript remains not only an artifact of the past, but also an example of the preservation and dissemination of scientific knowledge in antiquity.

Currently, the original manuscript is kept in the Austrian National Library in Vienna.

Source: smarthistory.org