Miniature from a copy of Kitab al-hashaish, an Arabic translation of Dioscorides’s De Materia Medica. “A Ferry Crossing the Gagos River”, Iraq, Baghdad?; 1224. Leaf: 32.2 × 24 cm. Inv. no. 5/1997. © The David Collection.

Like another miniature, which shows a doctor’s office (4/1997), this is one of the both unnecessary and revolutionary illustrations in Abdallah ibn al-Fadl’s copy of Dioscorides’s medical treatise.

The text states that on the shores of the Gagos River, jet can be found that is effective against pain in the uterus, but the artist took the opportunity to depict an entire ferry with a helmsman, two rowers, and eight passengers, each looking out of a porthole. Despite the awkward rendition of the river landscape, the miniature is colorful and filled with finely observed and beautifully executed details.