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Applied Sciences
Volume 15
Issue 19
10.3390/app151910626
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

The Gardener of the Grand Duke: History and Analysis of Ms. 462 Hortus Pisanus, Icones variarum plantarum

by
Luca Nodari
1,
Claudia Giostrella
2,
Giulia Lorenzetti
3,
Vincenzo Palleschi
3,
Stefano Legnaioli
3,* and
Patrizia Tomasin
1
1
Institute of Condensed Matter Chemistry and Technologies for Energy, National Research Council, (ICMATE-CNR), Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padua, Italy
2
Ministry of Culture BUPI, 00186 Rome, Italy
3
Institute for the Chemistry of Organo Metallic Compounds, National Research Council, (ICCOM-CNR), Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(19), 10626; https://doi.org/10.3390/app151910626 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 25 August 2025 / Revised: 28 September 2025 / Accepted: 29 September 2025 / Published: 30 September 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Application of Digital Technology in Cultural Heritage)
Versions Notes

Featured Application

Despite their great artistic value, illustrated herbals are a type of manuscript that has received little scholarly attention. This work demonstrates how an in situ contactless multi-analytical approach, combining digital techniques with spectroscopies, can provide valuable insights into the materials used. The results lay an important foundation for the study of this type of heritage.

Abstract

Codex 462 of the Fondo Hortus Pisanus of the Biblioteca Universitaria of Pisa is a precious example of a 16th century illustrated herbal, Icones variarum plantarum, containing 35 tempera paintings by the German soldier Georg Dyckman, an amateur but highly talented artist. The manuscript was recently restored on the occasion of an international exhibition; the necessary preliminary studies for the restoration included a series of in situ diagnostic studies using contactless techniques (digital microscope, multispectral imaging, XRF, Raman and ER-FTIR). These analyses proved useful in deepening the knowledge of the materials and the execution technique of this type of illustrated herbals and in choosing the most appropriate solutions during the restoration phase. In view of the growing interest in this type of historical evidence, which involves both art history and the history of science, this study offers an interesting new perspective on the subject, useful both from a technical point of view for future conservation and for analytical and historical artistic studies.
Keywords: herbal; manuscript; ER-FTIR; Raman; XRF; multispectral imaging herbal; manuscript; ER-FTIR; Raman; XRF; multispectral imaging

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MDPI and ACS Style

Nodari, L.; Giostrella, C.; Lorenzetti, G.; Palleschi, V.; Legnaioli, S.; Tomasin, P. The Gardener of the Grand Duke: History and Analysis of Ms. 462 Hortus Pisanus, Icones variarum plantarum. Appl. Sci. 2025, 15, 10626. https://doi.org/10.3390/app151910626

AMA Style

Nodari L, Giostrella C, Lorenzetti G, Palleschi V, Legnaioli S, Tomasin P. The Gardener of the Grand Duke: History and Analysis of Ms. 462 Hortus Pisanus, Icones variarum plantarum. Applied Sciences. 2025; 15(19):10626. https://doi.org/10.3390/app151910626

Chicago/Turabian Style

Nodari, Luca, Claudia Giostrella, Giulia Lorenzetti, Vincenzo Palleschi, Stefano Legnaioli, and Patrizia Tomasin. 2025. "The Gardener of the Grand Duke: History and Analysis of Ms. 462 Hortus Pisanus, Icones variarum plantarum" Applied Sciences 15, no. 19: 10626. https://doi.org/10.3390/app151910626

APA Style

Nodari, L., Giostrella, C., Lorenzetti, G., Palleschi, V., Legnaioli, S., & Tomasin, P. (2025). The Gardener of the Grand Duke: History and Analysis of Ms. 462 Hortus Pisanus, Icones variarum plantarum. Applied Sciences, 15(19), 10626. https://doi.org/10.3390/app151910626

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