03-05-2026, 11:57 AM
I recently came across the manuscript: Florence. Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Amiat.1 (viewable You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.), that has an intersting folio. It is 2v-3r, and it looks like this:
[attachment=15391]
Visually, this has nothing to do with the VMS, but I found the concept interesting. It is a top-down view of a palace/bathhouse (can someone confirm this?). If we assume that some circular illustrations in the VMS depict also top-down views of places, such as a bathhouse ("hammams" were already proposed many times for explaining the Rosettes section, for instance), then maybe this is a unique parallel to that kind of imagery.
Recall the "top-down" illustrations from the VMS, such as this one:
[attachment=15392]
And now examine the features of the first picture. All around the edges, we see columns:
[attachment=15393]
And inside, some kind of altar or table with jars on it:
[attachment=15394]
If the VMS author(s) indeed intended to replicate some sort of top-down architecture, then this might somehow provide a clue to it. Can someone more knowledgabe help to translate what this is in the original MS? What are thery trying to depict here?
[attachment=15391]
Visually, this has nothing to do with the VMS, but I found the concept interesting. It is a top-down view of a palace/bathhouse (can someone confirm this?). If we assume that some circular illustrations in the VMS depict also top-down views of places, such as a bathhouse ("hammams" were already proposed many times for explaining the Rosettes section, for instance), then maybe this is a unique parallel to that kind of imagery.
Recall the "top-down" illustrations from the VMS, such as this one:
[attachment=15392]
And now examine the features of the first picture. All around the edges, we see columns:
[attachment=15393]
And inside, some kind of altar or table with jars on it:
[attachment=15394]
If the VMS author(s) indeed intended to replicate some sort of top-down architecture, then this might somehow provide a clue to it. Can someone more knowledgabe help to translate what this is in the original MS? What are thery trying to depict here?