Secrets of Medicine

Secrets of Medicine

Datable between 1430 and 1449, this codex is part of the collection of 216 manuscripts bequeathed in 1820 by the Redi family to the Laurentian Library in Florence. It contains a rich repertoire of plants, which includes about 90 different botanical species, each of which is illustrated by a respective watercolor. Human and animal figures accompanying each plant, and sometimes serving as their roots, are often included to demonstrate one or more of the ailments for which the plant could be used. There are numerous fantastic and allegorical figures such as centaurs, angels, and demons. The watercolor paintings are the work of an unknown artist who nonetheless possessed a remarkable ability to render the various pathologies that plants can cope with in a realistic way.

Practical and Mystical Considerations for Treatment

The passages of Italian text written in a neat Gothic script contain advice on the cultivation and use of these plants. Thus, the location, type of soil, and proper time of year for planting and harvesting each plant are specified, as are instructions for how they are to be prepared and mixed with wine, animal fats, oils, honey, or rose water. Furthermore, each plant is ascribed a virtue and there are also astrological considerations to be made as the stars will determine when treatments will be most effective or when they should be delayed. This is especially true of bloodletting, as it was believed the moon had a similar effect on human blood flow as it did the tides.