Theatrum Sanitatis
The Theatrum Sanitatis originates from 14th century Italy. It is a manuscript about the medicine of the Middle Ages and is illustrated with 208 outstanding miniatures. The manuscript is based on the medical insights of the Arabian doctor Ibn Butlan and was translated into Latin and furnished with its splendid picture cycle in Lombardy.
Theatrum Sanitatis
In the 14th and 15th centuries, medicine was based primarily on experimental results and not on religious superstition, as before. The treatise Theatrum Sanitas was composed in order to spread and make known prudent hygienic norms among the princes and powers that be of the Middle Ages. The Latin manuscript is based on the medical insights of the Arabian doctor Iban Butlan from the 11th century. The manuscript is adorned with 208 high-quality, artistically appealing illustrations.
The Medicine of Ibn Butlan
Ibn Butlan was a famous Christian doctor who lived and worked in Baghdad. His findings purported that the health of a person is dependent on six elements. Counted among them are diet, the surrounding outside world, movement and rest, bodily fluids and excretions as well as the various emotional states of a person. Illnesses originated, according to his opinion, from a disturbance of these areas. With the help of outstanding miniatures, Butlan’s insights are clarified in the Latin codex and advice for the maintenance of health and for recovering from illness is presented.
Informative and Esthetic Book Decoration
The luxurious picture cycle of the codex was produced in Lombardy. The high-quality pictures reflect the traditional painting of the great book artist Giovanni de Grassi. They show the most varied aspects of medieval medicine in boundless fantasy. The scenes, which are concerned with health and the healing of illnesses, are mostly imbedded in everyday scenes from life in the Middle Ages. So the fabulous pictures take their beholder along on a journey into the world of times long past.
Codicology
- Size / Format
- 214 pages / 32.8 × 22.0 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- 14th century
- Epochs
- Style
- Language
- Illustrations
- 208 paintings
- Artist / School
- Ububchasym de Baldach alias Ibn Butlân (died in Baghdad in 1068) (author)
Lombard artistic tradition, the school of Giovanni de Grassi (illuminators)
Theatrum Sanitatis
Partridge Hunting
A wealthy nobleman is shown with a falcon and dogs hunting for partridges, which continue to be a popular game bird today. The plump birds also appear in both ancient Greek mythology and the Bible signifying humility. Regarding partridges, the accompanying text reads: “Nature: Of moderate warmth. Optimum: Those that are moist and fat. Usefulness: Good for convalescing people. Dangers: Bad for those engaged in heavy labor. Neutralization of the Dangers: Cooking them with leavened dough.”

Theatrum Sanitatis
Pigeon Chicks
The page at hand concerns raising pigeons for food, known as squab, as part of a series on the species from which the modern pigeon is descended. Its caption reads: “NATURE: hot and dry in the second degree. BEST when already weaned. BENEFICIAL for paralysis and chills. DETRIMENTAL to the brain and cause insomnia. REMEDY THE DETRIMENT with vinegar and coriander.”
This splendid page is embedded in the everyday life of late–14th century Italy, particularly with its depiction of fashion. Father and son are dressed in thigh-length tunics and tights, the son is girt with sword and dagger while the father sports a forked beard. The mother is dressed more modestly in a flowing dress with her head covered as she gathers eggs from the birdcage.

#1 Theatrum Sanitatis
Languages: Spanish, English
- Treatises / Secular Books
- Apocalypses / Beatus
- Astronomy / Astrology
- Bestiaries
- Bibles / Gospels
- Chronicles / History / Law
- Geography / Maps
- Saints' Lives
- Islam / Oriental
- Judaism / Hebrew
- Single Leaf Collections
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Literature / Poetry
- Liturgical Manuscripts
- Medicine / Botany / Alchemy
- Music
- Mythology / Prophecies
- Psalters
- Other Religious Books
- Games / Hunting
- Private Devotion Books
- Other Genres
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Ethiopia
- France
- Germany
- Hungary
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Serbia
- Spain
- Sri Lanka
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Aboca Museum
- Ajuntament de Valencia
- Akademie Verlag
- Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA)
- Aldo Ausilio Editore - Bottega d’Erasmo
- Alecto Historical Editions
- Alkuin Verlag
- Almqvist & Wiksell
- Amilcare Pizzi
- Andreas & Andreas Verlagsbuchhandlung
- Archiv Verlag
- Archivi Edizioni
- Arnold Verlag
- ARS
- Ars Magna
- ArtCodex
- AyN Ediciones
- Azimuth Editions
- Bärenreiter-Verlag
- Belser Verlag
- Belser Verlag / WK Wertkontor
- Benziger Verlag
- Bernardinum Wydawnictwo
- BiblioGemma
- Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Vaticanstadt, Vaticanstadt)
- Bibliotheca Palatina Faksimile Verlag
- Bibliotheca Rara
- Boydell & Brewer
- Bramante Edizioni
- Brepols Publishers
- British Library
- C. Weckesser
- Caixa Catalunya
- Canesi
- CAPSA, Ars Scriptoria
- Caratzas Brothers, Publishers
- Carus Verlag
- Circulo Cientifico
- Club Bibliófilo Versol
- CM Editores
- Collegium Graphicum
- Collezione Apocrifa Da Vinci
- Comissão Nacional para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses
- Coron Verlag
- CTHS
- D. S. Brewer
- De Agostini/UTET
- De Schutter
- Deuschle & Stemmle
- Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft
- DIAMM
- Droz
- E. Schreiber Graphische Kunstanstalten
- Ediciones Boreal
- Ediciones Grial
- Ediclube
- Edições Inapa
- Edilan
- Editalia
- Edition Georg Popp
- Edition Leipzig
- Edition Libri Illustri
- Editiones Reales Sitios S. L.
- Éditions de l'Oiseau Lyre
- Editions Medicina Rara
- Editorial Casariego
- Editorial Mintzoa
- Editrice Antenore
- Editrice Velar
- Edizioni Edison
- Egeria, S.L.
- Eikon Editores
- Electa
- Enciclopèdia Catalana
- Eos-Verlag
- Ephesus Publishing
- Eugrammia Press
- Extraordinary Editions
- Fackelverlag
- Facsimile Editions Ltd.
- Facsimilia Art & Edition Ebert KG
- Faksimile Verlag
- Feuermann Verlag
- Folger Shakespeare Library
- Franco Cosimo Panini Editore
- Friedrich Wittig Verlag
- Fundación Hullera Vasco-Leonesa
- G. Braziller
- Gabriele Mazzotta Editore
- Gebr. Mann Verlag
- Getty Research Institute
- Giovanni Domenico de Rossi
- Giunti Editore
- Graffiti
- Grafica European Center of Fine Arts
- Guido Pressler
- Guillermo Blazquez
- H. N. Abrams
- Harrassowitz
- Helikon
- Hendrickson Publishers
- Henning Oppermann
- Herder Verlag
- Hes & De Graaf Publishers
- Hoepli
- Houghton Library
- Hugo Schmidt Verlag
- Idion Verlag
- Il Bulino, edizioni d'arte
- ILte
- Imago
- Insel Verlag
- Instituto de Estudios Altoaragoneses
- Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia
- Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana - Treccani
- Istituto Ellenico di Studi Bizantini e Postbizantini
- Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato
- Italarte Art Establishments
- J. Thorbecke
- Jan Thorbecke Verlag
- Johnson Reprint Corporation
- Jugoslavija
- Karl W. Hiersemann
- Kasper Straube
- Kaydeda Ediciones
- Konrad Kölbl Verlag
- Kurt Wolff Verlag
- La Liberia dello Stato
- La Linea Editrice
- La Meta Editore
- Lambert Schneider
- Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg
- Leo S. Olschki
- Les Incunables
- Library of Congress
- Libreria Musicale Italiana
- Lichtdruck
- Lito Immagine Editore
- Lumen Artis
- Lund Humphries
- M. Moleiro Editor
- Maison des Sciences de l'homme et de la société de Poitiers
- Manuscriptum
- Maruzen-Yushodo Co. Ltd.
- MASA
- McGraw-Hill
- Militos
- Millennium Liber
- Müller & Schindler
- National Library of Wales
- Neri Pozza
- Nova Charta
- Oceanum Verlag
- Odeon
- Orbis Mediaevalis
- Orbis Pictus
- Österreichische Staatsdruckerei
- Oxford University Press
- Parzellers Buchverlag
- Patrimonio Ediciones
- PIAF
- Pieper Verlag
- Plon-Nourrit et cie
- Prestel Verlag
- Princeton University Press
- Prisma Verlag
- Priuli & Verlucca, editori
- Pro Sport Verlag
- Propyläen Verlag
- Pytheas Books
- Quaternio Verlag Luzern
- Reales Sitios
- Recht-Verlag
- Reichert Verlag
- Reichsdruckerei
- Riehn & Reusch
- Roberto Vattori Editore
- Rosenkilde and Bagger
- Roxburghe Club
- Salerno Editrice
- Sarajevo Svjetlost
- Schöck ArtPrint Kft.
- Scolar Press
- Scrinium
- Scripta Maneant
- Scriptorium
- Siloé, arte y bibliofilia
- SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo
- Sociedad Mexicana de Antropología
- Sorli Ediciones
- Stainer and Bell
- Styria Verlag
- Sumptibus Pragopress
- Szegedi Tudomànyegyetem
- Taberna Libraria
- Tarshish Books
- Taschen
- Tempus Libri
- Testimonio Compañía Editorial
- The Clear Vue Publishing Partnership Limited
- The Facsimile Codex
- The Folio Society
- The Marquess of Normanby
- The Richard III and Yorkist History Trust
- Tip.Le.Co
- TouchArt
- TRI Publishing Co.
- Trident Editore
- Typis Regiae Officinae Polygraphicae
- University of California Press
- University of Chicago Press
- Urs Graf
- Vallecchi
- Van Wijnen
- VCH, Acta Humaniora
- VDI Verlag
- Verlag für Regionalgeschichte
- Verlag Styria
- Vicent Garcia Editores
- W. Turnowsky
- Wiener Mechitharisten-Congregation (Wien, Österreich)
- Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft
- Xuntanza Editorial
- Zollikofer AG