The Voynich Ninja

This is a subject I have not looked into yet, so I don't know how common or rare examples are. At first glance, it looks like moon faces are not uncommon. 
However, several of the faces in the VM celestial bodies are quite characteristic, so it might be informative to find parallels.

I found one stylistic parallel for the frontal face, which is unfortunately a bit late (1491). The BSB site is incredibly slow for me atm so I can't look in the rest of the MS.

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Breviarium Romanum
Erscheinungsort: Venedig
Verlag: Johannes und Gregorius de Gregoriis
Erscheinungsjahr: 1491.09.30

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Has anyone looked for parallels before?

Two non-manuscript solar traditions jump to mind for me.
The first is late Roman images of a Sun God which can be viewed in such places as Bath (UK). You mainly get these male Gorgon Heads in outlying settlements of the Empire which adjoin places of Celtic influence. Yes they are late Roman, but they could influence later Middle Age intellectuals who saw them.

A second is a particular 16th century Christian tradition which you got in southern Spain, in Christian bishoprics adjoining Al-Andalus. Slightly later than our manuscript, but the symbol is understood to have been in use during the conquista of Muslim lands. Several Spanish Bishops spontaneously started to use sun gods as their own personal insignia when appointed. This is the Sol de Portocarreno from Almería, a fine example of the style. It is understood that the symbol represents the protection of God over the roads which lead the true believers from Islam to Christianity. The suns are quasi-official Christian representations which only exists across Andalusia.

This is stylistically different, and the noses are narrow and are connected to the mouth with a line, but I still thought it interesting because the eyebrows and nose are drawn all together as one line (MS Manchester Latin 2):

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Moon and Sun faces (not VMs-like).
St. Gallen, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. Sang. 760 South Germany/Switzerland ca. 1450
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Siena Intronati You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (late-13th-century) represents the Sun and the Moon as faces surrounded by "double crescents". Here, the pattern seems to echo the "mandorla" surrounding god.

I attach a collection on Moon / Sun faces from the VMS. I might have missed some. Of course, we cannot be sure that all of them are meant to represent the Sun or the Moon, but in most cases this seems the most likely explanation. It is interesting how different they are from each other, this could possibly suggest that some of these faces represent something else (e.g. other planets, as Pelling wrote, if I remember correctly). For instance, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is described as representing the Moon, but I believe it is Hermes/Mercury instead, see the symbol (and text?) at the beginning of the page.

Outside of the manuscript tradition, I came across this lovely rod of the Virgin of the Stars in Tortosa.
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(07-08-2018, 11:59 AM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Siena Intronati You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (late-13th-century) represents the Sun and the Moon as faces surrounded by "double crescents". Here, the pattern seems to echo the "mandorla" surrounding god.

I see the attachment to this post was lost in one of the server crashes. Here it is again. I think that these mirrored double crescents are rare, even more so with faces (as in the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. detail attached by Koen above).

Since JKP named LJS 449 (Germany, ca. 1446) (it also has excellent parallels for the astrological signs) in the Morten St George thread, here are the links for the pages.

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In these illustrations the Sun has both straight and wavy rays, as the rod of the Virgin of the Stars in Tortosa posted by MarcoP above.

Is there any Sun with (only) wavy rays earlier than ~1450? If not, this could be a good terminus post quem.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is also dated circa 1450.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is dated circa 1450-1518:
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(05-05-2019, 02:23 PM)nablator Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.In these illustrations the Sun has both straight and wavy rays, as the rod of the Virgin of the Stars in Tortosa posted by MarcoP above.

davidjackson actually