De materia medica: where art and scientific principles pome together

Year 2019, Volume: 32 Issue: 2, 94 - 96, 31.05.2019

Elif Ozdogan

https://doi.org/10.5472/marumj.571589

Abstract

This essay interprets and analyses the painting called “Dioscorides

describing the mandrake”, which is currently located in a

permanent exhibition at Wellcome Collection in London, UK.

The painting features Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek botanist

and pharmacologist who practiced in the Roman Empire during

the rule of Nero. Dioscorides is known for his influential De

Materia Medica, a five-volume book on medicinal uses of various

plants and herbs. What makes this script special and influential

is that it included a vast amount of herbs, detailed descriptions,

scientific observations, as well as a scientific classification and

order. Upon reflection on this piece of art, I am reminded of the

medical realm that we are gradually becoming a part of as medical

students. There is immense passion, knowledge and intelligence

in how medicine became modern medicine today. For me, the

painting on Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica is a compelling visual

representation of centuries – long endeavor.

Keywords

De Materia Medica, Dioscorides, Pharmacology, History of medicine

References

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