Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
That's cool, Searcher! Were you inspired by the Beatus?
So you use a top-down view, which is logical if you want to include as much information as possible. I think the only area where you compromised may be the foundations - did you place a section of foundation under each gate? Manuscripts either solve the foundation problem by omitting them altogether, or by using a side view and placing tiered foundations under the walls, like a big cake. (As an example, see the one Cary posted above). Showing the foundations in a true top-down view is tricky, unless everything is flattened. The VM solves this by using a top-down view overall but slightly tilting the perspective to show details.
(02-02-2022, 05:17 PM)Searcher Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I need to note that the correspondence between tribes, gemstones and months is quite problematic. I saw many tables and diagrams, and almost all of them differ in this relation.
Do you know where/when these correspondences with months, seasons and elements originated? It makes sense given the significance of four and twelve, but this is not something I have looked into yet.
I hope you'll feel better soon, fever can really be incapacitating :/
Perhaps it is the use of perspective, or the invention of graph paper. Though the various representations claim to portray the same thing, it is often clear that they do not present the same visual appearance. There hasn't been any real standardization of how the image 'should' be presented. While cloud-band type cosmic boundaries are used by various artists, there is a great variety of presentations in relevant manuscripts.
Even within versions of historical texts, the illustrations change. All the posthumous versions of Gautier de Metz show variations in the cosmic illustrations. But there are none that prepare for total revision shown in the Harley 334 edition (f. 11r and f. 29r). The replacement of the standard, poly-concentric model of the cosmos by the pictorial, inverted T-O structure. The closest similarity is the Oresme cosmos of Paris c.1410. It's the same "Paris" version of cosmic structure, but with variation, even the two Harley illustrations have their variations in the same text.
The various works of Christine de Pisan show this artistic variation, specifically in the illustration of Pegasus and the Muses. There are clearly different versions of the illustration, depending on the direction of flight. In contrast to Harley 4431 with red-winged Pegasus, there is the version of BNF Fr. 1188 f. 14r. This is a bit more naturalistic and rather greenish. And provenance appears to place it in the library of Jean, Duc du Berry. Along with Oresme, Melusine and the Berry Apocalypse.
It's time to dust off the old icons, when we can find them. New Jerusalem would certainly qualify as an icon, but what is the purpose of the map? It must also be considered, as shown by the heraldic ambiguity of VMs White Aries, that some of the dust was intentionally created by the artist.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., translated as "foundations" is, in fact, an adjective that mean "foundational", but it also was used as a substantive. Older dictionaries gave only one translation for the latter case - "foundation". It is interesting that later dictionaries, the same Liddell & Scott, give "foundation-stone", as well. So, almost all modern translations of the Revelation use just "foundation-stone" in translations. Possibly, this translation was added after researching of more quantity of sources.
Anyway, my representation was based not quite on this. To depict the diagram of New Jerusalem more accurately, one need to understand what is underlain this image. It was taken too literally by medieval artists and people, in general, although it would be really strange to see a building with 12 foundations. Therefore they, probably, couldn't clearly imagine the image of New Jerusalem and lost some details.
I see New Jerusalem of Revelation as a model of the New World, but with the same components: 12 months, 12 zodiac signs, 12 tribes of Israel, four seasons, four cardinal points. All the same, but clear and light. I think the gates are months, the angels are zodiacal constellations, and pearls - the Sun in every zodiac sign. They stand on the foundations or foundation-stones which really imply surface of the sky, in that time, it would be called "firmanent" where all stars are placed. The twelve foundations are sections or areas of the sky where every of 12 zodiacal constellations is located. Twelve regions in the sky - twelve regions on the Earth.
Christian religion is full of remains of Babylonian sidereal religion, though it was rejected.
Quote:The Jewish Encyclopedia describes it further:
The vestments of the high priest were interpreted in three ways. The explanation of Philo is as follows ("Vita Mosis," iii. 209): His upper garment was the symbol of the ether, while the blossoms represented the earth, the pomegranates typified running water, and the bells denoted the music ofthe water. The ephod corresponded to heaven, and the stones on both shoulders to the two hemispheres, one above and the other below the earth. The six names on each of the stones were the six signs of the zodiac, which were denoted also by the twelve names on the breastplate. The miter was the sign of the crown which exalted the high priest above all earthly kings.
Josephus' explanation is this ("Ant." iii. 7, § 7): The coat was the symbol of the earth, the upper garment emblemized heaven, while the bells and pomegranates represented thunder and lightning. The ephod typified the four elements, and the interwoven gold denoted the glory of God. The breastplate was in the center of the ephod, as the earth formed the center of the universe; the girdle symbolized the ocean, the stones on the shoulders the sun and moon, and the jewels in the breastplate the twelve signs of the zodiac, while the miter was a token of heaven.the water. The ephod corresponded to heaven, and the stones on both shoulders to the two hemispheres, one above and the other below the earth. The six names on each of the stones were the six signs of the zodiac, which were denoted also by the twelve names on the breastplate. The miter was the sign of the crown which exalted the high priest above all earthly kings.
Josephus' explanation is this ("Ant." iii. 7, § 7): The coat was the symbol of the earth, the upper garment emblemized heaven, while the bells and pomegranates represented thunder and lightning. The ephod typified the four elements, and the interwoven gold denoted the glory of God. The breastplate was in the center of the ephod, as the earth formed the center of the universe; the girdle symbolized the ocean, the stones on the shoulders the sun and moon, and the jewels in the breastplate the twelve signs of the zodiac, while the miter was a token of heaven.
St. Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, also explores the symbolic meanings of the stones chosen to adorn the priests:
According to some, the literal reason for these vestments was that they denoted the disposition of the terrestrial globe; as though the high-priest confessed himself to be the minister of the Creator of the world, wherefore it is written (Wis. 18:24): "In the robe" of Aaron "was the whole world" described. For the linen breeches signified the earth out of which the flax grows. The surrounding belt signified the ocean which surrounds the earth. The violet tunic denoted the air by its color: its little bells betoken the thunder; the pomegranates, the lightning. The ephod, by its many colors, signified the starry heaven; the two onyx stones denoted the two hemispheres, or the sun and moon. The twelve precious stones on the breast are the twelve signs of the zodiac: and they are said to have been placed on the rational because in heaven, are the types [rationes] of earthly things, according to Job 38:33: "Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason [rationem] thereof on the earth?" The turban or tiara signified the empyrean: the golden plate was a token of God, the governor of the universe.
In St. John the Divine's vision of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the City stood on a foundation of twelve stones, each correlating with one of the stones of the breast plate. The stones, though, are in a different order -- with the last stone of the breastplate (the stone associated with the tribe of Benjamin) listed first.
(You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.)
Very interesting subject. Thanks Koen and Cary.
This post proves one more time how VM offers great opportunities to extend our knowledge and to challenge our minds.
I don't know if it was mentioned previously here, so I would like to provide the below link:
You are not allowed to view links.
Register or
Login to view.
There are a couple of old Jerusalem maps. What I found interesting are the "crusaders round maps", some of them very similar with T-O maps. Unfortunately, no swalow tail merlons in them....
Part two is online!
You are not allowed to view links.
Register or
Login to view.
This part still focuses on the overall structure of the image, and also involves the ring around the central rosette. It explores the theological meaning of Revelation, and is the first step in our argument that the Rosettes foldout should be read as a diagram
about Revelation rather than a straightforward illustration.
The rest of the series is currently planned as follows, though this may be subject to change:
Part 3: focus on specific roundels.
Part 4: focus on different roundels.
Part 5: focus on the centre.
Thanks, Koen, happy to make some small contribution. In all honesty, both the VMs rosette examples and Angers tapestry came to me through Don Hoffmann's investigations. The simultaneous investigation of cloud-bands and cosmic structure was a significant event for VMs discovery. It opened a window, where none existed before.
I really like the example you chose in the last illustration; the similarities are very strong. Also need to mention that the rainbow throne and the inverted T-O globe are part of that image. In the C-14 era, these are the icons, the things that are recognized without explanation - like merlons, cloud-bands, religious images, heraldry and mythology. They are the icons of an era long passed and nearly lost, but valid in historical fact. The actual facts of VMs representation are often clear enough in a visual sense. Not like they are microscopic in any way. It has been more a problem of recognition and historical connection that has contributed to investigative difficulties, but things are improving. The more we can look at VMs illustrations and understand what they are, the better.
Unfortunately, the fountain in the next to last illustration appears to be octagonal as I see it.
Koen, as always, I'm pretty impressed with your chops at fitting the Voynich Manuscript's imagery into some large and complex cultural phenomena happening at the time. I say this now to Cary as well: I find your arguments for intentional Jewish, Christian and pagan themes in the illustrations pretty convincing. Whether or not these pieces of traditional lore were the central point of the manuscript, I find it more likely than not that the illustrators were thinking about them, at the very least.
Part 3 is now online. It is entirely about the top right rosette, with the "castle" and the spiral.
You are not allowed to view links.
Register or
Login to view.
This post interprets the top right rosette as a reference to Revelation 6, the effects on the earth after the opening of the sixth seal. We also added a part about the T-O diagram.
About the T-O card, I never looked at it closely before.
But now, without looking back at history, it looks to me like a disc where the water rushes down on all sides.
A view and pure thought.
It is also interesting that it actually took place in a similar way as you have described.
I had just written about it a week earlier on Nick.
It is also interesting that it fits into the possible region of origin.
It is also a kind of interpretation.
Text at Nick:
You are thinking of theology, which is also pure interpretation.
I could also claim that it is about the landslide of 1348, north of Venice. The stars stand for the 17 or so villages buried by the mountain, and the spiral symbolises the earthquake.
What is seen as a volcano at the back could also be the hellhole where the mountain top broke off.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.[/font]
It is also just a view, but has nothing to do with theology here. It could also be an event.
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15