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Garden of Virtues - Printable Version

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Garden of Virtues - Koen G - 21-03-2020

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is a copy of the « Somme le roi » or « Livre des vices et des vertus ». It contains an image of the Jardin des Vertus, an allegorical representation. The seven fountains/springs/wells represent the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and the trees represent virtues. The tall one in the middle is Christ. The virtuous ladies are using cups to water their virtues with the "gifts". 

When I first saw this, I thought it was similar to certain VM folios, namely You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and maybe to a lesser extent f84r . When I compared them in more detail, I thought, "nah, it's nothing". And now I think that still there may be some conceptual similarity.

   

The similarity is that you've got a number of female figures in a row, each flanking a stream of water. In the VM, these are labelled, suggesting that they may each stand for something specific. The direction of the water is different in the VM, where it seems to come from the sky (?) and whatever is going on in f84r.

Here is an older example from Ms 870, Bibliothèque Mazarine. The relation between the women with their cups, the water and the trees is clearer here. I like how the cups are basically circles or watery rings

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These also exist in the VM, though they are almost always connected to tubes and the nymphs kind of put their hand inside them.

   

RE: Garden of Virtues - -JKP- - 22-03-2020

Excellent.

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Notice how the blue and red ladies, in the second image, have their backs/shoulders touching but are facing away from each other and there is a single at each end facing inward.

This is something I had particularly noticed about the VMS drawing (the one directly below it). So much so, I even blogged about it. But I couldn't quite figure out the significance of it. I wondered if it was related in some way to the postures used in line dancing but I suppose it might simply be copied rather than being done that way by design.

RE: Garden of Virtues - -JKP- - 22-03-2020

Vatican, early 1300s Garden of Virtues:

[Image: garden.jpg]

Source: Master of the Dominican Effigies, Wikimedia Commons


British Library Royal C I (seven virtues seven vices, Toulouse):

[Image: K056153.jpg]


Harley 4940 Seven Virtues and Vices (c. 1350s Toulouse?):

[Image: 6a013488b5399e970c01b7c904d29a970b-800wi]

RE: Garden of Virtues - -JKP- - 22-03-2020

This one is interesting because it's organized differently. Instead of a row of virtues and a row of vices, the virtues and vices are in pairs:

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Source: Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, 2676 (1400s)

RE: Garden of Virtues - Koen G - 22-03-2020

I think the back to back poses subconsciously contributed to the recognition.

I must say though that I seriously doubted about posting this, it looks like one of those things that could be a huge coincidence. Especially since there are more than 7 nymphs in both VM folios.

BUT I just noticed that there are actually seven streams on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. even though there are some extra nymphs. As you say it's got the back to back thing going on.

 And also, compare the nymph on left with the corresponding lady on the left. Their poses are very similar. I can't make an image now cause I'm on my phone, but you probably see what I mean.

RE: Garden of Virtues - -JKP- - 22-03-2020

Yes, she has her hand up in the same way.


As for numbers... the numbers in the VMS are weird. I've always wondered if it was deliberate. Whenever you look at medieval cosmological drawings. you see certain numbers and the VMS is often off by one, but not always. This is one of the reasons I've been suspicious that the drawings themselves were deliberately obfuscatory, like the text. If you knew what was going on, you could figure it out. If you didn't know what was going on... it would be hard to discern.

RE: Garden of Virtues - -JKP- - 22-03-2020

In older manuscripts... 12th century, 13th century, the virtues tend to be drawn in a tree form. At some point in c. 14th century, these other representations (horizontal rows or groups) tend to become more common than they were previously (the tree forms continued, but other forms were being added).

So, once again, if the VMS image is related to the Virtues, it is consistent with the radiocarbon dating.

RE: Garden of Virtues - -JKP- - 22-03-2020

From the Talhoffer manual, the seven virtues as they relate to the martial arts:

[Image: peselino_virtues.jpg]

This is something I've pointed out before, but I'll do it again... notice how the words are broken into sections across the drawings:

RE: Garden of Virtues - -JKP- - 22-03-2020

Temperance in the center of the seven virtues. Notice how she is holding a pair of spectacles:

[Image: rouen_ethics.jpg]


Aristotle’s Ethics (Oresme’s translation from 1452), Bibl. Municipale, Rouen, MS fr. 927. I 2

RE: Garden of Virtues - -JKP- - 22-03-2020

I think it's important to post these other renditions of the seven virtues because it's not enough to post something that's similar, it's essential to look into how it was usually done so one can see whether the similarity is usual or unusual. There are too many people who STOP LOOKING (I'm not pointing fingers at anyone here, but it's something I see quite frequently, not just with imagery, but also with so-called "solutions") when they see something similar.

In this case, it appears that the similarity is unusual. The groups of women representing virtues are not usually organized as in the example that Koen posted, so it appears to be a somewhat unique way of doing it. Very cool.