Matthioli’s Marine Zoology Set 10-Page Suite (Lyon, 1572)

From Pietro Andrea Matthioli, Commentaires sur Dioscoride, Lyon: Balthazar Arnoullet, 1572

Hand-coloured woodcuts on laid paper, folio (each leaf c. 32 × 22 cm)
Printed in French, with typographic initials and running heads.

This superb suite of ten original sixteenth-century pages presents one of the earliest printed surveys of marine life ever produced in Europe. Drawn from Matthioli’s celebrated French-language commentary on Dioscorides (1572 Lyon edition), the set illustrates a vivid array of sea creatures—from electric rays and crabs to squid, lobsters, sea hares, and mythic serpents—each accompanied by Renaissance-era text linking classical science, observation, and medicine.- In our attached image gallery we have the ten original documents followed by translations from old Italian directly into English to preserve the intention of the wording, also we then capture in detail some of the amazing imagery by clipping and zooming in on these wonderful marine animals. 

Printed more than four centuries ago, these woodcuts capture the moment when natural history was shifting from inherited legend to direct study of nature. Matthioli’s engravers worked from the anatomical treatises of Aristotle, Pliny, and the Mediterranean zoologist Guillaume Rondelet, giving the modern viewer a rare window into the birth of scientific illustration.

Contents of the Set

1. De la Torpille — The Electric Ray
   An early description of the Torpedo fish, noted for its power to numb the limbs and used in classical medicine to treat pain—one of the first references to bio-electric therapy.

2. La Tareronde & De la Seche — The Stingray and Cuttlefish
   Finely inked dual plate linking the venomous ray to remedies for toothache and digestion; among the earliest identifiable European cuttlefish depictions.

3. Lieure Marin — The Sea Hare (Aplysia depilans)
   Believed to cause madness and hair loss if handled—an enduring Renaissance curiosity combining zoology and superstition.

4. Ongle Aromatic — Aromatic Shells of India
   Basket of shells rendered in delicate hand-tinting; discusses their use in perfumes and ancient Babylonian incense trade.

5. Des Cancrès — Remedies from Crabs and Snails
   Text page linking marine crustaceans to healing balms and ointments; testimony to early pharmacological experimentation.

6. Cancre de Fleuve, Cancre de Mer, Astace — River and Sea Crabs, Lobster
   A magnificent trio of crustaceans shown in precise detail, representing both freshwater and saltwater species.

7. Maia & Pagvre — Spider Crab and Common Crab
   Demonstrates comparative morphology; annotated with Greek, Latin, and Venetian names for each species.

8. Cancellés & Scorpion de Terre — Hermit Crabs and Scorpions
   Illustrates nature’s hybrids—creatures inhabiting borrowed shells and terrestrial arachnids once believed marine kin.

9. Escrevisse & Squille — Lobster and Mantis Shrimp
   Graceful double engraving; the Squilla mantis was a Mediterranean delicacy and an anatomical puzzle to early naturalists.

10. Scolopendre & Serpent Marin — Sea Centipede and Marine Serpent
    Transitional creatures between invertebrates and reptiles, emblematic of the period’s fascination with the boundary between science and myth.

Historical Context

Pietro Andrea Matthioli (1501 – 1577) was physician to Emperor Maximilian II and one of the most influential herbalists of the sixteenth century. His Commentarii in Dioscoridem expanded the classical Greek pharmacopoeia into a Renaissance natural encyclopedia, incorporating new discoveries from the Mediterranean and New World. The Lyon edition of 1572, printed by Balthazar Arnoullet, is prized for its refined French translation and beautifully inked woodcuts, some hand-coloured shortly after printing.

Artistic & Scientific Significance

• Among the first French-language natural-history engravings of marine fauna

• Illustrates early empirical study before Linnaean classification

• Demonstrates the fusion of art, medicine, and mythology in Renaissance thought

• Each plate individually suitable for museum-grade framing; together, they form a coherent thematic suite

• Complete thematic runs of Matthioli’s marine plates are exceptionally scarce.

Physical Condition

Original leaves on laid paper with wide margins, light toning, and minor foxing consistent with age. Some plates retain original 16th-century tinting in soft sepia and ochre. Clean impressions with excellent press texture.