Dioscurides Neapolitanus
The Dioscurides Neapolitanus is a handwritten book of herbs in Greek from the end of the 6th century, which is kept in the Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli under the signature Codex ex Vindobonensis Graecus 1 .
The manuscript consists of 172 parchment sheets, 290 × 250 mm, 170 of which contain the illustrations for the herbarium of Pedanios Dioscurides . In the original version of Dioscurides only pure text without illustrations was provided. A common archetype is assumed for this manuscript and the Vienna Dioscurides . In contrast to the Constantinopolitan origin of the Viennese splendid specimen, the expression of the Bible major in Neapolitanus speaks for an origin in the west of the Byzantine Empire, in Italy. Later supplementary hands using the Italo-Greek script also suggest that the manuscript will remain in Italy. Also codicological details of the claimants as the system of ruling and argue for a formation in Italy as well as the iconographic implementation of the common template. Paleographically , the time of origin can be limited to the turn of the 6th to the 7th century, which is also confirmed by the parallels to the initial ornamentation of Western manuscripts of this time. An origin in Ravenna around the exarchs , as Carlo Bertelli assumed, is conceivable, as is an order from the circle around Cassiodorus , who recommends the use of illustrated copies of Dioscurides in his Institutiones (1, 31, 2).
The codex was bequeathed by the humanist Antonio Seripando († 1531) to his brother, Cardinal Girolamo Seripando , who in turn left it to the Augustinian convent of San Giovanni a Carbonara in Naples. The previous owners were Girolamo Carbone and Aulo Giano Parrasio , son-in-law of Demetrios Chalkokondyles . This is why it was previously assumed that the Codex was created in Constantinople . Bernard de Montfaucon was able to consult the manuscript in Naples on his Italian study tour (1698–1701). In 1718 it was ordered by Charles VI. transported to Austria with other valuable manuscripts. The return of these and other manuscripts from Vienna to the Kingdom of Italy was the result of negotiations by the Commission after the Peace of Saint-Germain in Paris (1919) after the end of the First World War . After it was returned in 1919, the codex was initially taken to the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice , and since June 7, 1923, it has been in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Naples.
Facsimile edition
- Dioscurides Neapolitanus. Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli. Codex ex Vindobonensis Graecus 1 . Roma, Salerno Editore 1988 (Codices mirabiles 2) ISBN 88-8402-012-3 / Graz, Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt 1988 (Codices selecti 88) ISBN 3-201-01417-6 Complete facsimile edition in the original format of the manuscript
- Carlo Bertelli , Salvatore Lilla, Giulia Orofino: Commentarium . Introduzione di Guglielmo Cavallo , Roma, Salerno Editore 1992. ISBN 88-8402-080-8 / Graz, Akademische Druck- und Verlags-Anstalt 1988. ISBN 3-201-01417-6 Text of the introduction by Gugliemo Cavallo
Remarks
- ↑ Witness for this are the fragment Neapol. lat. 2 around 500 and Escorial. R III 3 ( Guillermo Antolín: Catálogo de los códices Latinos de la Real Biblioteca del Escorial. Volume 4, Madrid 1916, pp. 489-490 ; PDF; 36.0 MB), both originated in Italy
- ↑ Including ms. ex Vindobonensis Latinus 72 , an autograph by Torquato Tasso ( entry at Manus online )
- ^ V. Bonuses on the homepage of the library's digital offer
Web links
- Digitized on the pages of the National Library in Naples with 31 selected images
- The Dioscurides in the Biblioteca Digitale
- Complete digitization of the manuscript in the World Digital Library
