The Voynich Ninja

I believe the Voynich manuscript has something to do with the court of Borso d'Este. Borso was a wealthy Italian duke of the 15th century, and a parton of the arts. He spent most of his money on helping artists and commissoining pieces.

One of his most famous commissions is the Bible of Borso d'Este. Here is an example of an illustration of that Bible, next to a similar looking nymph from the VMS:

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Borso kept a huge library of manuscripts. Today, those manuscripts are part of the Biblioteca Estensa. Unfortunately, the website has dissapeared. But you can view it in the archive.org viewer:

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A particularly interesting MS in that collection is the Dante d'Este, an illustrated copy of Dante's works. In it, we see some striking imagery reminiscent of the VMS. Let's begin with swallowtail merlons:

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Bathing scenes:

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Notice the naked nymphs bathing together on the right.

There are lots of illustrations of naked people, including women:

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The proportions seem to be like those of the VMS.

Borso's court placed enormous importance on astrology. Palazzo dei Diamanti's historical account says that Borso reportedly did not undertake important actions without the advice of his astrologers, particularly Michele Savonarola and Pellegrino Prisciani. Note that Savonarola wrote a treatise on thermal baths: De balneis et thermis naturalibus omnibus Italiae.

Note also that Borso d'Este had commissioned a herbal from Cadamosto, which has already been discussed as potentially relevant on this forum:

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Some excerpts:

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According to Italian herbal expert Sergio Toresella, the above mentioned herbal has similarities to the VMS.

So I think therefore that the VMS has something to do with the court of Borso d'Este.

Illustrations from Dante's Commedia are from MS Alfa.r.4.8

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Personally, I don't find the proportions to be similar to the big-headed style of the VMS.
And personally I agree with Panofsky: the VMS looks provincial, rather than related with major Renaissance centers

Don't you find it interesting that this is another manuscript (other than the Balneis) that prominently features large amounts of bathing naked nymphs?

Plus the Cadamosto connection must count for something too.

What if someone from Este's court, some amateur with access to his vast library, used it to copy some images and then create the illustrations of the VMS? Can be someone provincial, sure.

(08-09-2026, 09:33 AM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.used it to copy some images

No evidence of that. This is "just another theory".

Yeah, username checks out. Lol

Anyway, this is the subforum for theories, so it's where I wrote it. Any constructive feedback?

(08-09-2026, 09:27 AM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Illustrations from Dante's Commedia are from MS Alfa.r.4.8

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Personally, I don't find the proportions to be similar to the big-headed style of the VMS.
And personally I agree with Panofsky: the VMS looks provincial, rather than related with major Renaissance centers

Thank for the link, Mr.MarcoP

(08-09-2026, 09:27 AM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.And personally I agree with Panofsky: the VMS looks provincial, rather than related with major Renaissance centers

It's worth mentioning though that there is often a changing of art style when works are copied, in varying amounts, depending on the individual copying them. Sometimes it's a 1-1 faithful copy, and sometimes the style is quite different even though the fundamental content is mainly the same. So even if the VMS illustrations appear more provincial, that doesn't rule out even a direct copying of a work originally from a major renaissance centre.

However, in order to have convincing evidence that the VMS is in some way based on this work, it would require a similarity in context as well imo. For example, the same group of people, in a similar position, in a similar environment. Otherwise, the claim is that the VMS author was somewhat inspired by some naked people bathing, yet copied neither the exact context nor the artistic style of that book. In my opinion, that is a relatively weak link. 

Similarly, the context of swallowtail merlons is important. Their depiction and use was so widespread that the use of them is not a convincing link in and of itself. The use in the VMS is miniature, in a specific type of diagram, and none of the examples here are actually very close to the VMS in either style or context. 

Also, high interest in astrology and/or herbal medicine were also widespread, so are not a convincing link in and of themselves. The same could have been said for many places and families of all types; that's why we see those things being printed en masse. 

So, it's certainly possible that there is some tangential link here, and it deserves to be investigated as far as possible, but I do not think there is enough here currently to come to the conclusion that there is a likely link with the VMS.

Thanks @eggyk. Perhaps it would be worthwhile taking a look at all the Dante manuscripts from that era, given the possibility of finding a lot of nudes/nymphs. Is there a list somewhere?

(08-09-2026, 12:04 PM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Thanks @eggyk. Perhaps it would be worthwhile taking a look at all the Dante manuscripts from that era, given the possibility of finding a lot of nudes/nymphs. Is there a list somewhere?

I don't have an extensive list at all as im not too familiar with the works, but there is: 

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I'm sure many of them will be relatively easy to search.

(08-09-2026, 09:33 AM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Don't you find it interesting that this is another manuscript (other than the Balneis) that prominently features large amounts of bathing naked nymphs?

Naked persons as souls certainly is an interesting concept. It was discussed a few times in the past, e.g.:
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Apparently, the idea of nymphs as souls dates back to Robert Brumbaugh (1930s)
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The Commedia was very popular in Italy and it doesn't have any specific connection with Ferrara in particular.
The Illuminated Dante Project has a list of ~100 manuscripts:
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(08-09-2026, 09:33 AM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Plus the Cadamosto connection must count for something too.

I am not sure about what the Cadamosto connection is. The bathing images at post #1 are not from one of Cadamosto's works, they are from various bathing texts including "Bagni de la Poreta" (modern Porretta) that were copied together with works by Cadamosto only in the single Spencer Collection copy.

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. wrote an essay about the Porretta baths in 1351, but I don’t know if the two texts are actually related. De utilitatibus aquae balnei de Porrecta aka Recepta aquae balnei de Porrecta

I love Cadamosto’s herbal, but it’s worth remembering that it appears to be about 30 years later than the VMS.

(08-09-2026, 09:33 AM)JustAnotherTheory Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.What if someone from Este's court, some amateur with access to his vast library, used it to copy some images and then create the illustrations of the VMS? Can be someone provincial, sure.

I don't believe that this is entirely impossible. But I am not aware of any specific evidence that could support such a specific hypothesis.