Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePainting

Title Page of Praesens maximus codex with Avicenna Portrait

A detail from the title page of a medical book, with a woodcut portrait of Avicenna in an arched frame.

Shows how Avicenna's name and portrait were used to present a medical book to readers, which made him a brand of medical authority.

Ask Avicenna about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Woodcut portrait of a bearded man in a turban and robe, set within an arched frame, with the name AVICENNA printed in capital letters across the bottom border. The image is a detail of a book's title page.
Title page, detail of Avicenna, Rare Books collection.

About this source

What it is

This is a detail of a book's title page, held in the Rare Books collection. It is a woodcut portrait of a bearded man in a turban and robe, set within an arched frame, with the name AVICENNA printed across the bottom border. The facts do not name the printer or the exact date.

Why it matters

Title pages told readers what kind of book they held and who stood behind its authority. Placing Avicenna's portrait on a medical title page shows that his name sold medical books in later centuries. The portrait was made by someone who never met him, so it reflects the printer's idea of him.

Look closer

  • What clues in the frame and the lettering tell you who this book is about?
  • Why might a publisher put a portrait on the title page instead of only text?
  • What does the portrait leave out about Avicenna as a real person?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Avicenna on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Avicenna sources

Meet the AI Avicenna →
An open bound book on a wooden table, showing two pages of handwritten Arabic-script manuscript text in dark ink, with small diagrams of round, clustered shapes on the left page and marginal notes on the right page.Book

Secondary source

Canon of Medicine

Avicenna · 1025

Open book on a tan surface showing a Persian-language title page reading 'Isharat' with the author's name Sheikh al-Ra'is Abu Ali Sina (Avicenna) and a printed photograph of a building on the facing right page. Printed on aged paper.Book

Primary source

Al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat

Avicenna

Book

Secondary source

Commentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon

Ibn al-Nafis · 13th century

Grayscale drawing of a bearded man in a tall wrapped turban and long robe, holding a long curved stick in one hand and a small object in the other. Faded Arabic script and the number 82 appear at top left.Painting

Secondary source

Avicenna (Subtilties of Truth manuscript image)

Beckwith · 1271

Medieval painting in a green-bordered frame. A bearded man in a blue robe and red cap stands centre. Around him, sick figures in white and blue robes hold flasks, and attendants in red and green stand at left. Blue arcades with red arches sit behind.Painting

Secondary source

Avicenna at the Sickbed

Walenty z Pilzna · c. 1479-1480

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Avicenna now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions