04-04-2016, 09:05 AM
![[Image: 40190940.jpg]](http://www.lessingimages.com/p3/401909/40190940.jpg)
04-04-2016, 09:17 AM
The Lessing image looks like the handwriting in the Tacuinum Sanitatis (the NYPL version). It should be pretty easy to check it against that.
The design of the root is the same idea as Antora in the Kraüter und Pflanzen Arzneipflanzenbuch (early 1500s).
I'm not sure what plant it is. It somewhat resembles Cardamine.
Besler includes a plant called Antora with roots that might be interpreted as an ox head but the leaves and flowers are quite different from the Antora illustrated in Tacuinum.
The design of the root is the same idea as Antora in the Kraüter und Pflanzen Arzneipflanzenbuch (early 1500s).
I'm not sure what plant it is. It somewhat resembles Cardamine.
Besler includes a plant called Antora with roots that might be interpreted as an ox head but the leaves and flowers are quite different from the Antora illustrated in Tacuinum.
04-04-2016, 11:21 AM
I agree it's a cool illustration! It is from the herbal of Giovanni Cadomosto.
I think that the Vienna ms (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) could be the earliest copy (it's image 29, I could not find a way to directly link a single page). I guess the image once again derives from the name “Antora” (“toro” is “bull” in Italian).
The plant appears in other copies of Cadamosto's herbal, e.g.:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (the same mentioned by JKP)
The recipe also mentions a veterinary usage: “la decocione data bevere alle bestie che hanno el pissasangue presto li guarisse” (a decoction given to the beasts that piss blood soon heals them).
The text also mentions an alchemical usage: “et dicono li Alchemisti che amorsato lo rame nel suo succo imbianchisse esso Rame cossi de dentro como de fuori” (and the Alchemists say that copper plunged into its juice whitens both inside as outside).
The plant appears in the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. as “antollas” (n.24). Regre Rutz proposed an identification with You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (mainly on the basis of the name and the bulbous root).
I think that the Vienna ms (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) could be the earliest copy (it's image 29, I could not find a way to directly link a single page). I guess the image once again derives from the name “Antora” (“toro” is “bull” in Italian).
The plant appears in other copies of Cadamosto's herbal, e.g.:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (the same mentioned by JKP)
The recipe also mentions a veterinary usage: “la decocione data bevere alle bestie che hanno el pissasangue presto li guarisse” (a decoction given to the beasts that piss blood soon heals them).
The text also mentions an alchemical usage: “et dicono li Alchemisti che amorsato lo rame nel suo succo imbianchisse esso Rame cossi de dentro como de fuori” (and the Alchemists say that copper plunged into its juice whitens both inside as outside).
The plant appears in the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. as “antollas” (n.24). Regre Rutz proposed an identification with You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (mainly on the basis of the name and the bulbous root).
04-04-2016, 11:45 AM
Ahh yes, I see. According to the wiki, this plant's roots were believed to be an antidote against "thora", another Aconitum plant. This "thora" was lethal to livestock. That may be the reason why the root of Anthora, the antidote, is drawn like a bull that looks more dead than alive.
04-04-2016, 10:39 PM
(04-04-2016, 11:45 AM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Ahh yes, I see. According to the wiki, this plant's roots were believed to be an antidote against "thora", another Aconitum plant. This "thora" was lethal to livestock. That may be the reason why the root of Anthora, the antidote, is drawn like a bull that looks more dead than alive.
I noticed that too, it looks like a cross between a root, a bull and the skull (hollowed eyes) of a bull and you may be right about why it was drawn that way.
05-04-2016, 05:16 PM
In You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., Khoen Gh. mentioned that a root in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. might possibly resemble a snake. There are similar roots in these two herbal pages, each of which is labeled with several names. They look different, but since they share the names “Serpentina” and “Naterwurtz” they likely illustrate the same plant: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (“snakeweed”).
1. Serpentina, Columbina, Basilica, Basilisca, ???, Basilicon, Bugarus, Alabardon, Drago[n]tea, Naterwurtz, Serpentin
From Auslasser, Vitus: Macer de viribus herbarum. Herbarius depictus per fratrem Vitum Auslasser de Fumpp prope Swaz monachum ... in Ebersperg anno domini 1479 - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
2. Bistorta, Serpentina, Naterwurtz, Cottu draconis
From BL You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., a XVI Century copy of Cadamosto's herbal (a similar illustration appears in Munich You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.)
[edited: see Helmut's additions / corrections to the name lists below]
1. Serpentina, Columbina, Basilica, Basilisca, ???, Basilicon, Bugarus, Alabardon, Drago[n]tea, Naterwurtz, Serpentin
From Auslasser, Vitus: Macer de viribus herbarum. Herbarius depictus per fratrem Vitum Auslasser de Fumpp prope Swaz monachum ... in Ebersperg anno domini 1479 - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
2. Bistorta, Serpentina, Naterwurtz, Cottu draconis
From BL You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., a XVI Century copy of Cadamosto's herbal (a similar illustration appears in Munich You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.)
[edited: see Helmut's additions / corrections to the name lists below]
05-04-2016, 06:41 PM
(05-04-2016, 05:16 PM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.In You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., Khoen Gh. mentioned...
1. Serpentina, Columbina, Basilica, Basilisca, ???, Basilicon, Bugarus, Alabardon, Drago[n]tea, Naterwurtz, Serpentin
...Columbina/Colubrina ...???/yfion ...
2. Bistorta, Serpentina, Naterwurtz, Cottu draconis
Cottu draconis/Collum draconis
08-03-2017, 03:40 PM
(13-03-2016, 01:38 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I can't remember where I read it.....
The Greek orchis means testicle, as still evidenced from the word polyorchidism (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.).
The Latin term is testes which may have led to the drawing of heads in the roots of orchids.
I guess that this unfinished plant from the Provencal You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (pag.85) makes the concept even clearer
09-03-2017, 04:24 AM
Yes, I think the VMS You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. root might represent a snake, the shape and eyes are very clear, but I'm not convinced that the plant is bistort. Bistort is usually drawn with this kind of root in herbal manuscripts, but it does not have trifoliate leaves and the VMS illustrator made a point of grouping the leaves in threes.
Bistort is not the only plant with a serpent root and is not the only plant drawn with a serpent root and there are many plants with serpentine roots and names like snake-root, serpentina, viperina, etc. Sometimes it reflects the actual shape of the root and sometimes the root is drawn as a mnemonic if the plant is good for snake bite.
As examples of possible plants that resemble the VMS plant more than bistort, Laserpitium is a plant with trifoliate leaves that has a wiggly carrot-like root that was sometimes drawn in the middle ages with many root hairs. It is included in at least 5 of the old herbals, so the plant was known in the 15th century. Alpine clover also has a long slightly-wavy root and trifoliate leaves, as do some species of Dentaria.
I think the VMS illustrator was exposed to a number of sources and put ideas together as desired and may have taken the snake-root idea from bistort but applied it to a different plant with a similar root.
BTW, I think the VMS plant to the right of the snake-root plant is small teasel. I have a couple of other possibilities on my list, but my first choice is small teasel.
Bistort is not the only plant with a serpent root and is not the only plant drawn with a serpent root and there are many plants with serpentine roots and names like snake-root, serpentina, viperina, etc. Sometimes it reflects the actual shape of the root and sometimes the root is drawn as a mnemonic if the plant is good for snake bite.
As examples of possible plants that resemble the VMS plant more than bistort, Laserpitium is a plant with trifoliate leaves that has a wiggly carrot-like root that was sometimes drawn in the middle ages with many root hairs. It is included in at least 5 of the old herbals, so the plant was known in the 15th century. Alpine clover also has a long slightly-wavy root and trifoliate leaves, as do some species of Dentaria.
I think the VMS illustrator was exposed to a number of sources and put ideas together as desired and may have taken the snake-root idea from bistort but applied it to a different plant with a similar root.
BTW, I think the VMS plant to the right of the snake-root plant is small teasel. I have a couple of other possibilities on my list, but my first choice is small teasel.
09-03-2017, 08:32 AM
The illustration on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. allows an interesting comparison with an image in one of the Wellcome copies of the "Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit": WMS 164. (Apologies if I mentioned this before).
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On the left is a 'sun plant' and on the right a 'moon plant'.
Especially the moon plant has a decent superficial similarity with the Voynich MS plant.
A dragons and some snakes also play a role here....
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On the left is a 'sun plant' and on the right a 'moon plant'.
Especially the moon plant has a decent superficial similarity with the Voynich MS plant.
A dragons and some snakes also play a role here....