Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



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  • Title: The effects of an aphrodisiac as illustrated in a Herbal
  • Creator:
  • Description: Herbals were health handbooks based on plant remedies. This Italian manuscript, drawing on the medical Latin tradition of Salerno, Italy, is copiously illustrated with certain organic substances believed to be capable of curing all sorts of sicknesses, including those caused by love. In this illustration, an elegant and richly clothed man and woman are seated together on a bench and are demonstrating the amorous effects of the aphrodisiac, Hyppurius (field horsetail), which is the tall, spiny plant drawn on the left side of the page. Above this couple, a young woman points at the figure of a naked boy holding his genitals. Underneath them is a drawing of the Jacinta, commonly known as the hyacinth plant, which is depicted with small blue flowers and a large bulb with a few roots sticking out of it. This plant was believed to aid in urinary and menstruation problems, and the text accompanying the images of the young woman and naked youth indicate that these two are experiencing the effects of ingesting hyacinth.
  • Source: British Library
  • Rights: Public Domain
  • Subject (See Also): Aphrodisiacs Gynecology Herbals Herbs Medicine Menstruation
  • Geographic Area: Italy
  • Century: 15
  • Date: 1440
  • Related Work: See a digitized version of the Herbal: http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=7796&CollID=9&NStart=4016
  • Current Location: London, British Library, Sloane 4016, f. 44v
  • Original Location: Italy, N. (Lombardy)
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital Images; Manuscript Illuminations
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Vellum (parchment); Paint
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 360 mm/255 mm/
  • Inscription: De homine sive de muliere experimenta [Experiments concerning a man or a woman]
  • Related Resources: Michael Camille, The Medieval Art of Love: Objects and Subjects of Desire (London: Laurence King, 1998), pp. 79-80, pl. 65.