The Voynich Ninja

(13-06-2026, 03:47 PM)Pierre Dumont Himself Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.@Koen G, have you figured out where the Trinity MS O.2.48 comes from?

No, although Marco and I discovered something about its line of transmission the other day: some of the later inscriptions are in a Flemish dialect (probably around Bruges, Ghent...). This explains how the manuscript ended up in England without any provenance. It was made somewhere, then some time in the 15th century came in possession of a Flemish individual, who (through trade relations) had connections with England.

The reason why this explains the unknown provenance is that it was already disconnected from its place of manufacture early on, being purchased by a Flemish person, probably a trader.

Another thing about the Trinity MS is that it has to be a copy of a now lost (southern) Italian MS. But with our current information, it makes no sense to guess where it was copied.

Vitale da Bologna, four stories of Saint Anthony the Abbot, Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna. Around 1340, originally in the church dedicated to the saint (Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Abate, Bologna). 

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(13-06-2026, 03:21 PM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.That's remarkable indeed. In manuscripts, many of the merlons we find are also in places in the Holy Land. Did they have some exotic appeal, even for Italians?

Now on the other hand, it may just be that frescos are predominantly of religious scenes, so you're bound to get lots of merlons in religious urban settings? (Lots of the scenes you mentioned are set in/against Jerusalem, which is important to include in imagery).

Maybe, but I can't escape seeing them as leitmotifs. The Crucifixion is often set against a wall in the background, which sometimes becomes a small castle or even two, on each side of the cross. I have also encountered this setting in manuscripts from southeastern France. Another version, more common in the northeast, has two (groups of) people on each side or a large crowd around the cross. The Annunciation often takes place on a castle balcony, while depictions of Saint George and battle scenes tuck castles into the corners (though in some cases the composition includes a wall in the lower foreground). Archangel Michael, as the warrior of God, is never shown descending into a garden. Martyrdom scenes, regardless of the saint, can happen inside a building, on a street in the city, or on a field with no buildings. If it's in the city, there may be no merlons, one building with merlons, or every building may have them.  In a similar vein, Nativity scenes occasionally replace the stable with a wooden fence. 
Random examples: 

Villafranca Piemonte: Cappella di Missione

Bastia Mondovì: Cappella di San Fiorenzo

Stories of Saint Ursula - Civic Museum, Treviso, formerly in a demolished chapel of the Chiesa di Santa Margherita, Treviso. Tommaso da Modena, 14th century.

Especially for the Annunciation, there's great symbolism tied to Mary's surroundings, and everything is about her virginity. Walled garden, sanctity of her bedchambers, the pillars acting like a barrier between her and the angel, God's rays passing through the window... It's almost obligatory. 

The crucifixion is set outside the city walls, because that's where the bible said it took place. You're still near Jerusalem, Christ has been pushed out. 

Before modern times, the expectation was that images must translate ideas, thoughts and feelings in a way the audience can relate to. In Flemish art, you might see the skyline of Bruges or whatever, to show: Jesus was in our city, but we (humanity) expelled him and killed him.

In that sense, I think the merlons in Italian frescos are there because either the real or archetypal city had merlons in the audience's mind. So when we see swallowtail merlons there, I would assume "this is what the patrons expected a city to look like".

I’m curious if there’s a distinction in regions between straight triangular merlons and the rounded triangular ones.

(13-06-2026, 06:55 PM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.In that sense, I think the merlons in Italian frescos are there because either the real or archetypal city had merlons in the audience's mind. So when we see swallowtail merlons there, I would assume "this is what the patrons expected a city to look like".

But what is the status of the simple rule "swallowtail = pro-Pope, flat = anti-Pope"?  I saw it being questioned and qualified recently here.  Was it true at some time and place, but then the association was lost, and the shape of merlons became just a free choice of the architects and painters?  Or did it still retain some of that connection, so that the walls of holy places in paintings generally had swallowtails because they felt "holier" that way?

All the best, --stolfi

Grove: the curved vs straight thing is more of a gradient , which makes it hard to draw a clear line. Moreover, sometimes the same merlons may look more straight or more curved depending on the angle (see the pink walls in Pierre's image above).

Stolfi: I'm still not sure, though Pierre may have more to tell about this some time. There is certainly a shift from strongly political to decorative, but I don't know where we are along that evolution in the early 15th century. I'm certain some of the political sting is lost by this point.

(Aside: another thing I still don't understand is the name "Guelph merlons". These are just standard merlons, basic and square. Isn't it rather that the Guelphs won't use the marked form that's associated with their adversaries?)

I've seen some authors mention this or that "type" of swallow-tail merlons, but never in a comparison and without citations. I can only read such descriptions as impressionistic. "Etschtaler" merlons may be considered a "type" because they radiaded through the Alps independently of developments elsewhere. Merlons there are more likely to be straight. The "Asti type" is also somwhat distinctive. It appeared early, in the late 13th century, and is typically curved and made of brick. Sometimes a castle or tower has up to three(?) rows of friezes below the merlon crown. They were more elegant becasue Asti used to be a city of residential towers. 

Historians already considered this disticnction meaningless in the early 20th century, and I've seen multiple authors describe it as an invention of 19th century historiography. This may not be 100% true, since the merlons occasionally changed shape with a new owner or reconstruction project, but this was rare and did not go back to the 13th century conflict. 

Watch this:

Flemish depiction of the Battle of Pavia, 1525. The city is shown with Guelph merlons.

Another Flemish depiction of the Battle of Pavia. This time, every building in the city has swallwotail merlons.

Fresco from Pavia, created during the battle.

Koen, I call them Guelph merlons precisely because they have no other name and they need love too. There is one exception I could find, though: The Castle of Cesnola in the Ivrea region had its swallowtail merlons walled in in the 18th century which allegedly looked rather strange before the reconstruction. This is interpreted by my sources as a sign of political realignment, albeit long after the merlons lost their military function. I can't tell if this explanation is accurate or just a hallucination of 19th century historiography but it might also be the kind of tale that led to this narrative in the first place. 
I don't think the same applies to the many castles and towers that had their merlons wall in earlier. In the Piemonte, there seems to have been a movement toward swallowtail merlons in the 14th and 15th centuries, and away from them until the 19th century. This was gradual, uneven, reversible, and most likely unrelated to politics.

But regular square merlons existed before and outside of the period of the warring Italian factions. If the rosettes foldout had only the square type, nobody would have talked about Guelph vs Ghibelline because there would be no distinguishing features. There would just be a castle/city with fortified walls and long walls with battlements. So I wonder if you can ever say for certain of a Flemish artist that they draw Guelph merlons, when they just may be drawing fortifications as they know them.

The reverse is true for the marked form of swallowtail merlons.