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Darrera modificació: 2009-08-06
Bases de dades: Sciència.cat
Telesko, Werner, The Wisdom of Nature: The Healing Powers and Symbolism of Plants and Animals in the Middle Ages, Munic - Londres - Nova York, Prestel, 2001, 96 pp., 103 il·ls.
- Resum
- The medieval view of the natural world can best be understood within its religious context, where nature was a book in which God revealed himself & his message to the world. Plants & animals were frequently given symbolic meanings or valued for their healing properties. Illustrated with works taken from 3 world-famous medieval manuscripts, this book focuses on 35 exquisitely executed sheets which depict a wide range of subjects, such as herbs & plants, animals & birds, nature & the seasons, & the Creation. This volume explains the origin of each manuscript illustration & looks into its symbolic meanings, listing the healing powers ascribed to it in the medieval world as well as medical properties still valued by modern science.
The medieval natural world comes alive in this fascinating and beautifully illustrated volume. In lavish, double- page spreads, illustrated with medieval manuscript pages, The Wisdom of Nature discusses the symbolic meanings and healing powers ascribed to a particular plant or animal. The illuminated manuscript pages reproduced in this book are taken from three classic works of medieval science from the Bodleian Library, Oxford, England, the Austrian National Library in Vienna, Austria, and the Burger Bibiothek in Bern, Switzerland (35 full page: Vienna Tacuinum Sanitatis [23pls], Bern Physiologus [7], Bodleian Bestiary [5]). The text commentaries, which are written in a highly readable and entertaining style, discuss the origin of each manuscript illustration, symbolic meanings associated with each plant or animal, healing powers ascribed to it and any medical properties modern science has established in it. An introductory essay describes the essential characteristics of medieval scientific thought. Werner Telesko is a member of the Art Historical Commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna and lectures Art History at the University of Vienna.
Contents:
Introduction
- The Natural World and Medicine in the Middle Ages
- Herbals and the "Tacuinum sanitatis"
- Tacuinum sanitatis
- Physiologus
- Bestiaries
Plates
Selected Bibliography
Index of Plates
- Matèries
- Història natural - Vegetals
Història natural - Animals
Medicina - Farmacologia
Manuscrits
Il·lustracions
- Notes
- Reimpr.: Darby, PA, Diane Publishing Company, 2005.
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