Reading on the Method of Illustrating the Medical Manuscript of "Tohfat al-Momenin" (Available in the Library of Congress)

 The history of illustration in medical manuscripts is replete with images concerning anatomical science, human and animal anatomy, plant morphology, and surgical tools. Meanwhile, regardless of such standard illustration methods, Tohfat al-Momenin includes narrative depictions of medical practices and treatment based on medicinal plants. This manuscript prompted an exploration of the book's visual features' features to study their narrative and their translation and transfer, considering the text's scientific nature.

 This was a descriptive-analytical study based on the visual data's qualitative interpretation. The data were collected through secondary research using the library and online sources, including the U.S. Library of Congress website.

 Although the text of the manuscript is not narrative, is open to interpretation, and has deep scientific-semantic layers, the artist has not embraced complex methods, instead has tried to create illustrations based on the text realistically. Illustrations that is easy to read and comprehend for the audience. Therefore, practicing loyalty to the text, which contains praising God's glory (spirituality) and medical instructions, the artist has selected the methods of tazhib (illuminated manuscript) and illustration to create a form of visual affinity between both spiritual and physical health.

 The overall result of the study points to the dominance of simple forms, use of dynamic and focused composition, adoption of a perspective with diverse focal points, use of variegated, supplementary, cold, and warm color types, and attention to the image of physician and patient characters in the golden point or center of the illustrations. Accordingly, these elements and the visual qualities help with an aesthetic representation of medicine and treatment in a realist manne.