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f68r: inspired by the Star-Mantle? - Printable Version

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f68r: inspired by the Star-Mantle? - VViews - 17-06-2017

In my search for parallels to the circular field of labeled stars on the 68r folios, I found an item which I believe is worthy of comparison with these folios, so I'm posting it here for discussion.
The object is the so-called Star Mantle of Henry II, gifted to him by a certain bishop Ismahel of Bari in 1020.

It soon ended up in the Bamberg Cathedral, where it underwent a significant restoration in the 15th C, during which the blue background was added (the original was purple silk) and the labels (tituli) were methodically un-sewn and rearranged differently so as to form new words and sentences. Apparently, there were originally many more labels than have survived.
Although they placed the labels differently, the placement of the stars and other elements was respected. However, the arrangement of stars here is not a literal map of the stars: "The placement of the images corresponds neither to a map nor to a celestial globe. The distribution of figures seems to be entirely arbitrary" (p. 22 in the referenced text below)
It is also worth noting that while the surviving mantle is only a semi-circle, the original one was actually fully circular, with a hole in the middle for the wearer's head to fit through. The emperor thus literally became the axis around which the heavens moved.

Here's the largest image I could find:
[Image: star-cloak2.jpg]
A good in-depth read about it can be found You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Considering that this mantle was restored in Bamberg in the 15th C, I wonder if such a prodigious object could have inspired the creators of 15thC manuscripts in Bamberg and beyond (the mantle was extremely famous at the time, in fact, the thousands of pilgrims coming to touch it are to blame for its early deterioration)... Of course, I am wondering if this object could have inspired the Voynich artist.
Conversely, the field of labeled stars it features could have been inspired by a now-lost depiction of the heavens. The author of the paper linked below suggests Gregory of Tours' De Cursu Stellarum as an influence, but concedes that this model alone doesn't explain what we see on the Star Mantle.
It would be very interesting to know more about Ismahel of Bari and the creators of this mantle.

What do you all think about this artifact as a parallel for the 68r folios?

RE: f68r: inspired by the Star-Mantle? - VViews - 17-06-2017

Many detail views of the Star Mantle can be seen here:
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RE: f68r: inspired by the Star-Mantle? - MarcoP - 17-06-2017

(17-06-2017, 01:21 PM)VViews Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.What do you all think about this artifact as a parallel for the 68r folios?

This certainly is a fascinating object. I haven't read the paper by David Ganz you linked, so this are just superficial impressions. At first sight, I see these points that might parallel the two diagrams f68r1/2:
  • both the mantle and the diagrams represent labeled celestial bodies (if VMS stars are stars after all)
  • both artifacts appear to be images of the cosmos (this is explicitly stated by the inscriptions on the mantle, but only a hypothesis for the VMS diagrams)
  • if the mantle once was circular, they also share a circular shape
  • personifications of the Sun and the Moon appear prominently in both artifacts (but in the mantle they are full figures, while only heads appear in the VMS)

Differences:
  • the Voynich diagrams are illustrated by undifferentiated "stars" (but for details like size, the number of "spikes" or the precence of a central circle - these details might all be or not be accidental); the mantle is illustrated by recognizable traditional figures of the constellations (a snake for Hydra, a dog for Canis Major, two people for Gemini etc) and personifications of the seven planets
  • the Voynich diagrams are a couple with two symmetric poles represented by the Sun and the Moon; in the mantle, the most important point seems to be the central hole corresponding to the emperor's head
  • quite curiously, the mantle contains a planisphere made of two circles (bottom left You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., top center You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.); these two objects are quite more complex than the figures of the single constellations; these two details are properly constellation maps and might be per-se somehow comparable with the two Voyinch diagrams (if they are star maps)
  • the mantle includes Christian elements that seem absent in the more abstract VMS diagrams: e.g. Saint Mary (assimilated to a star "stella maris inclita"), a cross with the four canonical symbols of the evangelists (above the label You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.)


RE: f68r: inspired by the Star-Mantle? - -JKP- - 17-06-2017

Wow, a lot of work went into that.

I notice the zodiacs are based on the old Greco-Roman model (similar to the Aratea/Aratus imagery). Cancer is a crab. Gemini is nude male twins, etc.

RE: f68r: inspired by the Star-Mantle? - Helmut Winkler - 18-06-2017

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There is a better (larger) image at

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