The anonymous Liber diversarum arcium ('Book of various arts') is a medieval . It contains over 500 art-technological instructions or recipes in Latin, forming a complete structured painting course. It is probably the most substantial and comprehensive mediaeval to survive, and summarises the state of the art in the European workshops of the fourteenth century. In particular it is an important witness to the practice of oil painting before Van Eyck. The majority of the are unique. 
The "Liber diversarum arcium" is preserved in Manuscript H 277, fonds ancien, Bibliothèque interuniversitaire, section médecine, Montpellier, France (folios 81v-101v). Although this manuscript dates from circa 1430 and was written in or near Venice, in fact the textual core of the "Liber diversarum arcium" itself mainly reflects northern European practices, and probably dates from c.1300. This core consists partly of compilations of earlier technical recipes (but re-worked to make them more useful), and partly of newly composed material. During the fourteenth century various material (much of it Italian) was added to this core. 
Content.
The text is substantial (26,000 words in Latin - thus containing far more on painting than the more famous "Theophilus Presbyter"), and is unusual among medieval artists' recipe books in being highly structured.
References.
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