Thank you Marco I admit I didn't read the paper you linked. The analysis is most interesting.
But the images remain allegorical, albeit without the sex. The allegory here is moderation despite access to abundance.
As for the ape, if it were a symbol of power or wealth I would expect it be on the shoulder of the woman, a symbol of possession.
By its freedom and the fact it is depicted loose in the tree, I think most medievales would interpret it as a counterpoint to the text, as a symbol of gluttony.
But that is a personal opinion. My original point - why would a scribe copy one aspect of an image without transferring the symbolism - remains as a philosophical question, if this is indeed what has happened
One option is that the VM illustrator did not rely on his own drawing skills and looked for models whenever he could, pragmatically copy pasting as required.
See, I agree with that. Maybe not "copy pasting", but I certainly think he was influenced by traditions that weren't communicated to him by traditional pedagogical means.
Take the crossbowman for example. After all of the many examples that Marco et al have posted, I have come to the opinion that the scribe was influenced by calendars and the like rather than manuscripts. In other words, what he would have seen in local life.
I wonder what other influences we could find, outside of the manuscript tradition?
The Tacuinum MSS made for Visconti were innovative in their illustrative program (although they did combine elements from various sources). As I wrote in my summary of Hoeniger's article, they had an influence on North Italian fresco art. This might be more along the lines of what you're thinking of. It's possible, though I wouldn't exclude the possibility of a library either, or even a "sample book" with exemplars for various drawings.
There's a similar scene later in the Tacuinum, called "vinum album" (white wine). It shows the depressed woman handing the fruits she picked to a man. Below (top to bottom) Paris, Rome, Vienna.
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While the pears are in the correct hand here, I think the overall resemblance is less than with the Paris "pear" image I originally posted. As I've written about before, the VM obsessively puts items in the "far hand", so if a Tacuinum "pear" image or something based on it was the source, the pears would have to be moved to the far hand.
Probably just the bad drawing of the author but she actually looks as though she's catching those pears and using the other hand to pop them into the tube before stomping on them.
Seriously tho, I can't think of any water / pear allegory - unless she's making pear cider
A wordplay with Latin pira (pears) and Greek pira (watch-fires or altar)?
So forget about Viridis Visconti, this is a different Paris Tacuinum Sanitatis. I haven't read much about it yet apart than a "mid 15th century" "Rhineland" origin, placing it in the same cultural region as Alsace.
Have there been any other suggestions for this object? Apart from "pears" I don't recall anything, nor can I think of an explanation.
I have another suggestion. I'll find it (it's a blog) and post it.
I don't think it's the best suggestion (the pears are probably closer), but we might as well get as many ideas on the table as possible.
Okay, added a date (it's been sitting mostly-finished for months), and posted it. Don't know when it will show up on the Blogosphere, so here is a link:
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As I said, it might not be the best idea, but hey... gotta keep thinking about it until we can glean enough info from the folio to put all the pieces together.