260 i Flora Unveiled
(Figures 10.3A, B, for example) are those that underwent the fewest rounds of copying
from previous herbals. Conversely, the least naturalistic and most schematic illustrations,
such as Figure 10.3E, are those that were copied repeatedly, accumulating numerous errors.
Accordingly, the least copied, most naturalistic illustrations should most closely resemble
their original Greek models. Singer believed that eleven of the most accurate portraits,
whose written descriptions cite Krateaus as the source for the text, were copied directly
from a second- century copy of Krateuas’s illustrated herbal. If so, these paintings provide us
with a close approximation of Krateaus’s original portraits.
However, as discussed by Minta Collins, Singer’s hypothesis may be too simplistic. For
example, the variations in style and scientific accuracy of the plant images could simply
reflect variations in the artistic abilities or tastes of the copyists rather than the antiquity
of the models from which the images were copied.^11 As we have seen, a comparable diver-
sity of artistic skill and aesthetic orientation is apparent in the botanical decorations of the
Church of St. Polyeuktos.
Singer’s dictum that Byzantine botanical artists never painted from living models is also
open to question. Consider the plant illustrations identified as oregano and yarrow shown
in Figures 10.3C and D. Although the overall quality of these two images is not as color-
ful and naturalistic as the illustrations in Figures 10.3A and B, note the presence of bro-
ken or cut branches— obvious defects in the specimens that suggest that the artists were
(e)Figure 10.3 Continued