Miniature from the Commentaries by Apollonio from Chiton on a treatise by Hippocrates of Kos,...

Treatment for a dislocation of the vertebral column; the patient is tied to a plank of wood while a therapist stands on his back; Folio 201r of Florence, Laurentian Pluteus 74.7, depicting an orthopedic procedure involving a ladder and pulley. The earliest surviving illustrated surgical codex was written and illuminated in Constantinople for the Byzantine physician Niketas (Nicetas) about 900 CE. It contains 30 full-page images illustrating the commentary of Apollonios of Kition on the Hippocratic treatise On Dislocations (Peri Arthron) and 63 smaller images scattered through the pages of the treatise on bandaging of Soranos of Ephesos. The Apollonian paintings represent various manipulations and apparatus employed in reducing dislocations; each of the images is framed in the Byzantine style in an archway of ornate design.