Abstract Locating Paradise in Paint: Botanical Imagery as Visual Evidence in the Christian Topography of Cosmas Indicopleustes The sixth-century Christian Topography by Cosmas Indicopleustes sought to demonstrate the truth of biblical cosmology, heavily relying on an extensive cycle of illustrations. While the late antique original is lost, its visual program survives in three medieval Byzantine manuscripts, which, however, reflect the prototype in a “filtered” and adapted form. This paper focuses on a specific set of miniatures from the treatise’s Book XI depicting the flora of India and argues that their function extends far beyond mere description. The central thesis of this study is that these botanical illustrations deliberately employ the visual conventions of Late Antique scientific and didactic imagery—so-called Lehrbilder—to enhance the credibility of the author’s theological geography. By portraying the exotic trees of India with quasi-naturalistic precision, the images serve as a form of visual evidence, designed to make the invisible and inaccessible earthly Paradise of Eden tangible and experientially real for the viewer. The lush Indian flora is presented as a direct, physical emanation of the biblical Paradise, thereby confirming its real, geographical proximity. Ultimately, this paper demonstrates that the botanical illustrations are not simple decorations but sophisticated tools of visual rhetoric, strategically designed to bridge the gap between faith and empirical observation by framing theological claims in the authoritative language of science.
Christine Stephan-Kaissis (Wed,) studied this question.