Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



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  • Title: Spelt
  • Creator: Workshop of Giovannino de Grassi, painter
  • Description: The Tacuinum sanitatis was an eleventh-century health handbook written by Ibn Butlan of Baghdad. In it he presents the elements needed for a healthful and happy life. He considers spelt to be good for the chest, the lungs, and for coughs. In the fourteenth-century illustrated versions the emphasis is on picturing attractive scenes drawing on themes from courtly love, fashionable dress, and estate management for an idealized view of agriculture, food production, and healthy living. This picture depicts a man and a woman threshing grain in a field. An open granary can be seen in the background.
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Rights: Public Domain
  • Subject (See Also): Agriculture Medical Manuscripts Peasantry Work
  • Geographic Area: Italy
  • Century: 14
  • Date: ca. late 1390s
  • Related Work: Tacuinum sanitatis, a medical treatise. Also known as the Theatrum sanitatis. The manuscript is fully digitized on the Biblioteca Casanatense site.
  • Current Location: Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, 4182, fol. 87
  • Original Location:
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Manuscript Illuminations
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Vellum (parchment); Paint
  • Donor: Layman; Probably commissioned by Giangaleazzo Visconti, Count of Milan, or nobility at his court.
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): //
  • Inscription:
  • Related Resources: Cathleen Hoeniger, "The Illuminated Tacuinum sanitatis Manuscripts from Northern Italy ca. 1380-1400: Sources, Patrons, and the Creation of a New Pictorial Genre." Visualizing Medieval Medicine and Natural History, 1200-1550. Edited by Jean A. Givens, Karen M. Reeds, and Alain Touwaide. Ashgate,2006. Pp. 51-81.