Figural book painting started in the Islamic world as an art form in the late Abbasid Iraq of the 13th century. The translation of a Greek manuscript shows a Physian preparing an elixir.
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13.152.6
Artwork Details
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Title:"Physician Preparing an Elixir", Folio from a Materia Medica of Dioscorides
Translator:'Abdullah ibn al-Fadl
Date:dated 621 AH/1224 CE
Geography:Attributed to Iraq or Northern Jazira, possibly Baghdad
Medium:Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Dimensions:Page: H. 13 1/16 in. (33.2 cm) W. 9 3/4 in. (24.8 cm) Mat size: H. 19 1/4 in. (48.9 cm) W. 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm)
Classification:Codices
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1913
Object Number:13.152.6
Physician Preparing an Elixir", Folio from a Materia Medica of Dioscorides
Translations of illustrated scientific treatises from Greek into Arabic became widespread in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries in urban cultural centers of the Islamic world such as Baghdad, capital of the Abbasid caliphate (750–1258). One of the most widely copied and illustrated of these was an herbal written some time in the second half of the first century A.D. by Dioscorides, a Greek from Asia Minor who served as a physician in the Roman Army. The Arabic translations are widely referred to by the Latin title, De Materia Medica in preference to the Arabic one, Khawass al-Ashjar. The author gives the name, description, habitat, and medicinal uses of some five hundred plants. The illustrations derive from a tradition going back to late antiquity, but appear to have been based on later Byzantine prototypes in many cases. However, the Islamic artists soon adopted a more pronounced genre attitude than that of the models for some of their illustrations in these herbals, as in this painting of a physician preparing an aromatic wine as a medicine for colds and coughs. He is shown at the right pulverizing the ingredients in a mortar with thoughtful care. Impurities are being strained out of the potion in the center before its storage in the jar at the left.
As is characteristic of this school, the painting without framing lines, is placed between areas of text directly on the uncolored page. All the objects rest on the thin, grassy line at the bottom of the picture, their strong silhouettes emphasizing the two-dimensionality of the design. The patterning of the leaves of the trees, as well as the abstract rhythms of their gnarled trunks, exemplifies the strong decorative basis of Islamic painting. The trees function more as framing and balancing elements in the composition than as parts of a landscape. The paharmacist, dressed in contemporary Arab clothing, is drawn in profile view to reveal his prominent features.
Marie Lukens Swietochowski in [Berlin 1981]
Among the Greek scientific texts that appealed to the Arab translators and artists of Baghdad, a center for manuscript production in the thirteenth century, were herbals and bestiaries. They described the appearance, habitat, salient characteristics, and uses of various plants and animals, a tradition going back to late antiquity, but pictorially more often influenced by the art of Byzantium. Particularly popular was the treatise of Dioscorides, a Greek physician working in the Roman army in Asia Minor in the first century A.D.
Before long the predeliction for genre scenes among the Muslim artists of the Arab world made itself felt. Here, for example, a pharmacist, in contemporary Arab clothing, is depicted in the preparation of medicine, grinding plants in a mortar and filtering the concoction into a vessel preparatory to storing it in the jar at the left. The grassy ground line and the flanking trees with their individual leaf patterns serve more as a framing device than an actual outdoor setting. The plain paper serves as the background, the picture with its bright colors creating a flat pattern on the surface of the page, consistent with the aesthetics of early Islamic art.
Marie Lukens Swietochowski in [Walker et al. 1994]
Inscription: In Arabic: Translation of text by R. D. Messaiah: Preparation of medicine (wine) for colds or coughs: ease the throat by taking 1/4 oke of bitter root, 1/8 oke of licorice root, 1/4 or 1/8 oke of white pepper. Pulverize them together and put the resulting powder into a cloth, tie it up, and immerse it in sweet wine for three days. Strain the liquor into a clean vessel. Drink after dinner. Notes: 1 oke, a measure of weight equaling about 2-3/4 lbs., measure of capacity, equals about 2/3 of a quart.
Translation of text by F. D. Day, 1950: The making of a drink (shirab) for catarrhs, coughs, swelling of the belly, and loosening of the stomach. Take myrrh 1/4 uqiyya, roots of susan 1/8 uqiyya, white pepper 1/4 and (...) 1/8 uqiyya. Pound them together, tie it up in a rag, put into 3 qusts of good wine, and let stand three days. Then strain and put into a clean vessel. Drink after supper.
F. R. Martin (Swedish), Stockholm (by 1910–at least 1912); [ G.J. Demotte, Paris, until 1913; sold to MMA]
Berlin. Museum für Islamische Kunst, Pergamonmuseum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. "The Arts of Islam. Masterpieces from the M.M.A.," June 15, 1981–August 8, 1981, no. 19.
Mexico City. Colegio de San Ildefonso. "Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York," September 30, 1994–January 8, 1995, no. 11.
Paris. Institut du Monde Arabe. "The Golden Age of Islamic Sciences," October 25, 2005–March 19, 2006, no. 110.
Washington. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. "Old Herbs," May 2007–August 2007, no catalogue.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting," December 17, 2023–August 4, 2024.
Anet, Claude. "Exhibition of Persian Miniatures at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris." Burlington Magazine vol. 22 (1912). pp. 15–16, ill. pl. I, A (b/w), Discusses style and origin of MSS, says it belonged "in its entirety" to F. R. Martin, now dispersed. Pl I, A (ill. leaf in Mutiaux collection).
Martin, F. R. The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India and Turkey from the 8th to the 18th century. London: Bernard Quaritch, 1912. vol. 2, p. 7, ill. pl. 5b.
Sarre, Friedrich Dr, and F. R. Martin. "Die Stoffe, die Waffen, Holz und Elfenbein." In Die Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst in Munchen 1910. Munich: F. Bruckmann A.-G., 1912. no. 583, volume 1, ill. pl. 5b, (ill. 57.51.21).
Sarre, F., H. R. Martin, and Moriz Dreger. Meisterwerke muhammedanischer Kunst auf der Ausstellung München, 1910: Teppiche, Waffen, Miniaturen, Buchkunst, Keramik, Glas und Kristall, Stein- Holz-und Elfenbeinarbeiten, Stoffe, Metall, Verschiedenes. Munich: Bruckmann, 1912. no. 582.
Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Miniatures Persanes. Vol. vols. 1-2. Paris, 1913. ill. pl. 1, XXVIII (related).
Ricci, Seymour. Catalogue d'une Collection de Miniatures Gothiques et Persanes appartenant à Léonce Rosenberg. Paris: Montassier et Odend'hal, 1913. pp. 36–37, ill. pl. XVIII.
Kühnel, Ernst. Miniaturmalerei im Islamischen Orient. Berlin, 1922. ill. pl. 5.
Gluck, Heinrich, and Ernst Diez. Die Kunst des Islam. Propylaen Kunstgeschichte, vol. 5. Berlin: Propylaen-Verlag, 1925. pp. 95, 502.
Dimand, Maurice S. "A loan of Near Eastern Miniature Paintings." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 22 (1927). p. 127.
Dimand, Maurice S., ed. "Dated Specimens of Mohammedan Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art." MMA Studies 1, pt. 2 (1929). p. 208, ill. fig. 1.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammedan Decorative Arts. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1930. p. 19, ill. fig. 1 (b/w).
Stchoukine, Ivan. La Peinture Iranienne sous les derniers 'Abbasides et les Il-Khans. Bruges, 1936. no. II, description of this manuscript.
Holter, Kurt. "Die Islamischen Miniaturhandschriften for 1350." Zentralblatt fur Blibliothekswesen vol. 54 (1937). no. 27, p. 11.
Buchthal, Hugo, Otto Kurz, and Richard Ettinghausen. "Supplementary Notes to K. Holter's checklist of Islamic Ill. Mss. before 1350." Ars Islamica vol. 7 (1940). no. 27, pp. 151–52.
Buchthal, Hugo. "Journal of the Walters Art Gallery, vol V, 1942." Early Islamic Miniatures from Baghdad V (1942). pp.19–39, no. 15, ill. fig. 17.
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 2nd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1944. p. 26, ill. fig. 13 (b/w).
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. 3rd rev. and enl. ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1958. pp. 25–26, ill. figs. 13.
Dimand, Maurice S. "New Accessions of Islamic Art." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin vol. 16 (April 1958). pp. 228–29, ill.
Grube, Ernst J. "Materialien zum Dioskurides Arabicus." Aus der Welt der islamischen Kunst. Festschrift für Ernst Kühnel zum 75. Geburtstag am 26. 10. 1957 (1959). no. VI, pp. 172–78.
"Austellung 27 Mai bis 5 Aug., 1962." In Kunstschatze aus Iran. 1962. no. 556, ill, pl. 82 (related).
Dimand, Maurice S. A Handbook of Muhammadan Art. Publications, 36.. Lahore: The Panjabi Adabi Academy, 1964. p. 26, ill. fig. 13 (b/w).
Swietochowski, Marie, and Richard Ettinghausen. "Islamic Painting." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., vol. 36, no. 2 (Autumn 1978). p. 5, ill. (b/w).
"Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York." In The Arts of Islam. Berlin, 1981. no. 19, pp. 68–69, ill. (b/w).
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Daniel S. Walker, Arturo Ponce Guadián, Sussan Babaie, Stefano Carboni, Aimee Froom, Marie Lukens Swietochowski, Tomoko Masuya, Annie Christine Daskalakis-Matthews, Abdallah Kahli, and Rochelle Kessler. "Colegio de San Ildefonso, Septiembre de 1994–Enero de 1995." In Arte Islámico del Museo Metropolitano de Arte de Nueva York. Mexico City: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1994. no. 11, pp. 66–67, ill. (color).
L'Age d'Or des Sciences Arabes. Paris: Institut du Monde Arabe, 2005. no. 110, p. 183, ill. (color).
Saliba, George, and Linda Komaroff. "Illustrated Books May be Hazardous to your Health." Ars Orientalis vol. 35 (2005). p. 28, ill. fig. 7 (b/w).
Baghdad : Eye's Delight. Milan, 2022. p. 291.
Scheiner, Jens, and Isabel Toral, ed. Baghdad : From its Beginnings to the 14th Century. Leiden: Brill, 2022. p. 714, ill. fig. 20.2.
Komaroff, Linda, ed. Dining with the Sultan : The Fine Art of Feasting. Los Angeles; New York: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2023. cat. 97, p. 282, ill.
Casagrande-Kim, Roberta, ed. "Islamic Transformations of the Classical Past." In Romance and Reason. Princeton and Oxford: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University, 2018. no. 47, pp. 74, 133, ill. fig. 4–9.
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