Alchemical Hands in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili

Benedetto Giovio (c. 1471-1545), a humanist and natural historian from Como, annotated two copies of the HP (Modena and Como). Russell identifies his annotations as primarily extractive: Giovio read the HP as a source for botanical, zoological, and antiquarian knowledge, treating it as a Plinian natural history compendium rather than as an allegorical or literary text.