Folio from a copy of the De Materia Medica by Dioscorides (ca. 40-90 C.E.); recto: text and illustration: Autumn crocus; verso: text and illustration: Mushrooms

Object Details

• Calligrapher

  Abdallah ibn al-Fadl

• Author

  Pedanius Dioscorides (died 90 CE)

• Description

  Detached folio from an Arabic translation of De materia medica by Dioscorides; text: Arabic in brown and red naskh script; recto: illustration and text, autumn crocus, 5 lines; verso: illustration and text, mushrooms, 8 lines; one of a group of 9 folios.

• Label

  One of the most celebrated Arabic translations of a Greek text was Dioscorides' Materia Media, a study of the flora of Asia Minor. Written in the first century C.E., it was first copied into Arabic in ninth-century Iraq and subsequently revised and edited in Spain, Iran, and other parts of the Islamic world. Divided into five chapters, the text provides the names, descriptions, and botanical properties of some five hundred plants.

  The Materia Medica was also frequently illustrated. The Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) from a thirteenth-century copy belongs to the fourth chapter, which describes herbs and roots. According to the text, the plant produces a saffron-like white flower, here represented in blue. The author also provides exact measurements of the stalk's span and mentions the edible part of the root.

• Provenance

  ?-?

  Aya Sofya Library, Istanbul [1]

  Likely by at least 1908-no later than 1923

  Fredrik Robert Martin (1868-1933), method of acquisition unknown [2]

  By at least 1923-?

  Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877-1947), method of acquisition unknown [3]

  About 1924-1940

  The object’s ownership and whereabouts are unknown

  By at least 1940-1942

  H. Kevorkian, New York, method of acquisition unknown [4]

  From 1942

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from H. Kevorkian, New York [5]

  Notes:

  [1] See Hugo Buchthal, “Early Islamic Miniatures from Baghdād” [journal] “The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery”, vol. 5, (1942): p. 20, “It has been known for some time that these miniatures were formerly part of a Dioscorides manuscript containing the two last books of De materia medica and the treatises De venenis and De iis quae virus ciaculantur animalibus. The manuscript was until recently preserved in the Hagia Sophia Library and is now in the Top Kapi Saray in Istanbul.” See also Glenn D. Lowry and Milo Cleveland Beach “An Annotated and Illustrated Checklist of the Vever Collection” [exhibition catalog] (Washington, DC: Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1988), p. 55, and footnote 6, “The two pages in the Vever Collection are among at least thirty-one illustrated folios that were removed at the turn of this century from a lavish copy of the Materia Medica dated June-July 1224. The corpus of the text – containing 202 folios from the fourth and fifth books, two other treatises by Dioscorides, and a work by Hunayn b. Ishaq – is in the Süleymaniye Library, Istanbul.” Footnote 6 cites the source as “Aya Sofya no. 3703. Formerly in the Aya Sofya Kütüphanesi, Istanbul.” Additionally, see Ernst J. Grube, “Materialien zum Dioskurides Arabicus”. In “Aus der Welt der Islamischen Kunst,” edited by Richard Ettinghausen [book] (Berlin: Gebr. Mann), no. VI, pp. 172-178. On page 172, he writes, “Dreißig Blatt mit Miniaturen aus dieser Handschrift befinden sich in fünfzehn verschiedenen öffentlichen und privaten Sammlungen Europas und Amerikas. Nur eine einzige Miniatur mit einer figürlichen Darstellung ist in der Handschrift verblieben (Fol. 2r).”

  In the mid twentieth century, some scholars mentioned that the manuscript had been moved from the Aya Sofya Library to the Topkapi Palace.

  Thereafter it went to the Süleymaniye Library, which has been the national repository for manuscripts in Türkiye since 1918. This painting was removed from the manuscript at an undetermined time before its transfer to the Topkapi Palace. See note 2.

  [2] Amongst Martin’s peers, it was recognized that the folios were part of the manuscript known as Aya Sofya 3703, and that Martin was the first owner of the detached folios. See F.R. Martin, “The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India, and Turkey from the 8th to the 18th Century [book] (London: Bernard Quaritch, Sr., 1912), vol. 1, p. 111. In the “List of Painters”, Martin wrote the following entry: “Abdallāh ibn al-Fadl, who painted: the miniatures in the Dioscorides Manuscript, part of which is in the possession of the author, dated A.H. 619 (A.D. 1222).” As early as 1929, Martin is cited as having been the owner of the Dioscorides’ folios: “Leaves from this manuscript, which once belonged to F. R. Martin, are now scattered all over the world”, in M. S. Dimand “Dated Specimens of Mohammedan Art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art – Part II: Manuscripts and Miniature Paintings,” “Metropolitan Museum Studies” vol. 1, no. 2 (May 1929): 208. And in Hugo Buchthal, “Early Islamic Miniatures from Baghdād,” “The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery”, vol. 5 (1942): p. 20, “If we look for kindred works of art, it is at once evident that the famous Dioscorides miniatures, formerly belonging to Dr. F. R. Martin, are most related to our ‘Hippiatrica’ manuscript”. For a publication citing Martin’s ownership, see F.R. Martin “A History of Oriental Carpets Before 1800” [book] (Vienna: Printed for the author, with subvention from the Swedish government, in the I. and R. State and Court Printing Office, 1908), fig. 14, and F.R. Martin, “The Miniature Painting and Painters of Persia, India, and Turkey from the 8th to the 18th Century [book] (London: Bernard Quaritch, Sr., 1912), vol. 2, p. 1, pl. 7a; see also Ernst Kühnel, „Miniaturmalerei im Islamischen Orient“[book] (Berlin: Bruno Cassirer Verlag, 1922), pl. 4. Additionally, see Laurence Binyon, J.V.S. Wilkinson and Basil Grey, “Persian Miniature Painting: Including a Critical Descriptive catalogue of the Miniatures Exhibited at Burlington House, January-March, 1931” [book] (London: Oxford University Press, 1933), cat. no. 14, “For other reproductions, see” and refers the reader to the aforementioned manuscripts by Martin and Kühnel. Fredrik Robert Martin was a collector, connoisseur, author, and Swedish diplomat assigned to Istanbul for several years in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, during a time of significant political and social unrest across the Ottoman Empire. It remains unclear how Martin acquired the folios.

  [3] See Ananda Coomaraswamy, “Early Persian Paintings in America” [journal] “The Arts”, vol. 3, no. 3, (March 1923): 179. Recto is shown, with the caption “Medicinal plant, Author’s collection, Arabic (1222)”. Ananda Coomaraswamy was a scholar, art historian, and collector, and an early advocate for the history and culture of India in the West. He was appointed a research fellow at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and contributed to numerous scholarly journals until his death.

  [4] See January 25, 1943 Freer Gallery of Art letter acknowledging loan of objects from Hagop Kevorkian for examination, copy in object file. This is the fourth item listed, and states “1 page from a Dioscorides Ms., left by Mr. Kevorkian on Jan. 13, 1940”. Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962) was a dealer and collector of Islamic Art with eponymous galleries in New York and Paris. Additionally, see Hugo Buchthal, “Early Islamic Miniatures from Baghdād” [journal] “The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery”, vol. 5, (1942): p. 39, fig. 42. The image of the recto includes the caption “Ex-coll. Coomaraswamy”. It is unclear whether Kevorkian acquired the object directly from Coomaraswamy.

  [5] See object file for copy of H. Kevorkian invoice to Freer Gallery of Art, dated February 26, 1943 and marked approved on February 23, 1943.

  Research updated March 10, 2023

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  East of Eden: Gardens in Asian Art (February 24 to May 13, 2007)

  Islamic Art (May 9, 1993 to June 3, 1997)

  Near Eastern Ceramics (May 14, 1981 to May 10, 1985)

  Art of the Arab World (August 15, 1980 to May 13, 1981)

  Art of the Arab World (May 8, 1975 to August 20, 1977)

  Near Eastern Art (January 1, 1963 to August 18, 1967)

  Centennial Exhibition, Galleries 6 and 7 (February 25, 1956 to April 10, 1962)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Fredrik Robert Martin (1868-1933)

  Dr. Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947)

  Hagop Kevorkian (1872-1962)

• Origin

  Probably Baghdad, Iraq

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Manuscript

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  900s, 800s, 700s, 1100s, 1200s, 1000s

• Name

  Coomaraswamy, Ananda K., Martin, Fredrik Robert, Kevorkian, Hagop

• Place

  Baghdad

• Topic

  Medicine, Art, De Materia Medica, Arts of the Islamic World, Plants, Crocus

• Culture

  Muslims, Abbasids, Iraqis

• Language

  Naskh script

• Object Type

  Manuscripts