Greek codices of Dioskouride ̄s have been traditionally evaluated on the basis of their
antiquity and artistic quality (hence the focus on the Vienna codex), but can be approached
more appropriately from scientific and iconic viewpoints, with due consideration of Arabic
copies. Possibly the most ancient set of pictures is that of MS Paris, BNF, graecus 2179
(9th c., southern Italy or Syria-Palestine), to which the early 13th c. codices of Istanbul,
Suleymaniye Kütüphanesi, Ayasofia 3702 and 3703 are very close (Touwaide). Though
relatively recent, the latter two probably reproduced a 9th c. model that, in turn, copied
carefully the 9th c. or even earlier Greek codex used to translate Dioskouride ̄s’ treatise into
Arabic. None of these three MSS is complete.
The Vienna codex is usually paired with the parchment MS of Naples, Biblioteca Nazi-
onale, ex Vindobonensis graecus 1 (7th c.). This codex presents the text in the layout of
papyrus rolls, i.e., in two columns on the pages, and illustrations atop the columns. It is
therefore deemed a close copy of the most ancient form of De materia medica illustrations.
The Vienna and Naples MSS are traditionally considered copies of the same ancestor,
which, given the realistic aspect of the pictures in the Vienna and Naples books, is believed
closest to the most ancient form of De materia medica illustrations. Nevertheless, a systematic
comparison of these two with all other illustrated MSS suggests their common model
might have reinterpreted in a realistic way such pictures as those of Paris graecus 2179, as
did also the Vienna codex thus adding a further layer of realism. (Their naturalism prob-
ably explains why the Vienna representations are often considered close to the original
form.) This set of pictures, too, is incomplete, as the text of the two MSS is a selection from
Dioskouride ̄s.
Later MSS generally reproduced the illustrations of the two groups above more or less
deftly and can be divided into two major categories, for each of which the major items are
given. The New York and Athos Dioskouride ̄s (respectively New York, Pierpont Library, M
652, 10th c., and Athos, Megisti Lavra, Ω 75, 11th c.) reproduce the text and the pictures of
the Vienna-Naples group. However, they also add the text missing in these two codices,
taking it from the full recension (represented by Paris graecus 2179). The pictures
accompanying these parts of the text in the New York and Athos volumes do not corres-
pond to those in the Paris codex, and seem to have been created by the artists of the two
MSS, who probably lacked models. While the newly created tables in the New York codex
are highly schematic, those of the Athos are much more realistic, and also include eastern
drugs missing not only in the Vienna and Naples volumes, but also in the New York codex.
Significantly, one of these illustrations corresponds closely to its equivalent in an Arabic
copy of Dioskouride ̄s.
The second category is formed of late illustrated Dioskouride ̄s MSS, all of which descend
from the Parisinus graecus 2183 (mid-14th c.), wherein the illustrations of several models have
been meshed, just as the text itself, which results from the collation of all previous versions
of Dioskouride ̄s’ Materia medica. This was the set of illustrations that was first known in the
Renaissance.
A.-L. Millin, “Observations Sur les Manuscrits de Dioscorides qui sont conservés à la Biblio-
thèque nationale,” Magasin Encyclopédique 2 (1802) 152–162; L. Choulant, “Ueber die
Handschriften des Dioskorides,” Archiv für die zeichnenden Künste 1 (1855) 56–62; A. de
Premerstein, C. Wessely, and I. Mantuani, De codicis Dioscuridei Aniciae Iulianae, nunc
Vindobonensis Med. Gr. 1 historia, forma, scriptura, picturis (1906); E. Grube, “Materialen zum
Dioscurides Arabicus,” in Aus der Welt der Islamischen Kunst: Festschrift für Ernst Kühnel (1959)
GLOSSARY