The book has 172 folios and a page size of 29.7 x 14 cm (11 11/16 x 5 1/2 inches) and the text is a redaction of De Materia Medica by the 1st century Greek military physician Dioscorides, with descriptions of plants and their medicinal uses.

[3] Additionally, in the Naples manuscript, the illustrations occupy the top half of each folio, rather than being full page miniatures as in the Vienna Dioscurides.

The script is somewhat rough and uneven, and the painting style of the miniatures less precise and naturalistic than the Vienna manuscript, indicating a certain falling-off in standards.

[4] The Naples Dioscurides is derived from the first-century manuscript De Materia Medica, written by Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek physician in the Roman army.

Despite the fall of the Western Roman Empire, its Eastern counterpart remained strong, keeping the traditions of Rome alive.

By the time of the writing of the Naples Dioscurides, the manuscript had remained popular amongst the Byzantines and the newly powerful Islamic Empires.

[5] Art historians can study the original De Materia Medica through medieval manuscripts (though the Naples Dioscurides is not an exact copy).

De Materia Medica was still a highly influential manuscript, and by the seventh century, was still being widely read by the Byzantine Empire and their satellite states.

The Naples Dioscurides was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a show entitled, "Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition," from March 12, 2012- July 8, 2012.

The plant descriptions are recorded below the illustration in two or three rather narrow columns, recalling the arrangement the earliest scroll version of the work would have had, before the codex form became near-universal.

[3] This theory has some weight to it, given the fact that its sister manuscript, the Vienna Dioscurides, was manufactured for a Byzantine princess and was housed in a royal library.

In contrast, the Naples Dioscurides was housed in a monastery, where it most likely would have served a practical purpose as a plant guide for monks.