Abstract

Pseudo-Aristotle’s Physiognomonica is one of the main authoritative texts in the field of ancient and medieval physiognomy. After its thirteenth century translation into Latin by Bartholomew of Messina, the treatise was widely diffused across Europe. Nevertheless, its medieval reception and use remains largely unexplored. The present paper aims to fill this gap and offers a new inventory of all the medieval commentaries written on pseudo-Aristotle’s Physiognomonica. The newly discovered material allows us to demonstrate that this physiognomic text was more widely read and commented upon than was previously accepted, which inevitably changes the picture of medieval physiognomy in general.