Discorsi di P. A. Mattioli Illustrated by Gherardo Cibo

A masterpiece of medical-botanical literature, enriched by the colors and miniatures of a great master: the Discourses by Pietro Andrea Mattioli in the famous large print version published by Valgrisi in Venice in 1568. The specimen, now residing at the Alessandrina Library in Rome, is renowned for the magnificent decorations by Gherardo Cibo, who, in addition to coloring the engraving, completed the backgrounds with evocative landscapes produced by his fertile imagination.

A Gorgeous Specimen of a Vital Scientific Text

Presented in a magnificent manner, this text is a document of the progress of scientific thought during the genesis of modern science. Mattioli’s work not only commented on the Materia Medica by Dioscorides, he also described 100 new plants, not all of which necessarily had medical applications, making it one of the first works that examined botany outside of medicine. The numerous copies of the original to have been produced, as well as the quality of this individual specimen, speak to its importance. This specimen united the work of a great botanist with a master painter, presumably at the behest of a high-ranking bibliophile and lover of gardening. Thus, it represents a significant specimen of Renaissance art and science simultaneously.

The Author’s Impression of the Artist

This is how Mattioli expressed himself concerning Cibo's art and, in particular, his botanical illustrations, in a letter dated 24 June 1565: "It really seems to me that they are so alive and natural, that one could not ask for anything better; and most importantly that one can perceive an elegance afforded to them by the decoration with pleasant village landscapes that cannot be felt in the presence of natural images alone. For this reason I tell you that even though I have received colored drawings of plants from many different places, there is such a difference between these and the former, as one can see between lead and silver or, even better, between lead and gold" (Siena Municipal Library, cod. miscell. D, vii, 2. c. 15 r.).