zoomorphic and anthropomorphic roots

[Diane]

Here is my informal translation of a passage from “Il Giardino Magico degli Alchimisti” by Vera Segre Rutz (pag. L -LIII).
As the pessage itself makes clear, this subject is not related with Alchemical Herbals in particular.

Images from Alchemical Herbal BNF 17848 (many thanks to Rene!).
I attach a slightly processed detail from the Naples Dioscorides f 78r (but the illustration is very dark, not easy to read). If someone had a link to the Vienna Dioscorides f 126r, I would be interested in seeing if it is clearer).

In addition to the geometrical simplification, there is another factor that contrasts naturalism and appears very strange to the modern eye: the prominent zoomorphic and anthropomorphic elements. Often, these elements correspond to analogies that are also expressed in the name of the plant, for instance You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. [Christ's Hands] (cap. 46), a kind of orchid [in Italian] still named “manine” (small hands) and scientifically “Orchis dactylorhiza”, because its roots remember the shape of a human hand. The plant named You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (cap. 34) has been associated with the fish “lucius” (pike) and features a large fish as a zoomorphich root. This phenomenon begins with the Naples Dioscorides [600 – 650 ca] [footnote: in the text of Dioscorides the small flowers of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. are described as similar to masks and they are illustrated as anthropomorfic in the Naples manuscript]. [In the alchemical herbal tradition] it extends to many plants, and sometimes this cannot be linked with the contents of the text. With the exception of “herba You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.” (cap. 3) the anthropomorphism or zoomorphism happens in the roots. Once again, the ancient Dioscorides manuscripts, from Wien and Naples, provide precedents, with the root of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. presenting a human appearance. Vegetal images with anthropomorphic or zoomorphic roots appear in a number of medieval botanic manuscripts, of the same age but not directly related with the alchemical manuscripts [the earliest dated alchemical herbal was written in 1378]. For instance, Florence ms Palat. 586 (XIV Century) from Spain-Provence, Laurenziana ms Redi 165 and the very similar herbal in the Gambalunghiana Library, Rimini. This aspect has been explained as “drolerie,” i.e. as a purely decorative phenomenon, or as a derivation from the Arabic

This is so strange. I started a thread about the various forms of Dioroscuran plant imagery on the the library page too. Nice synchronicity.  Speaking of which, I think my posts may be out of synch - date and time - with others posting here, I'm about ten hours ahead of everyone else, so if I post at 2.30pm my time and you at 2.30 pm your time, the order might be off.