(27-08-2025, 09:04 AM)TmSauca Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Re: Folio 73v:
The human crossbowman's bolt points to the downward-star nymph (which is ~8-o'clock position). I believe this male/sun is pointing toward the female nymph telling us to invert what we are looking at. Thus, I propose the system inverts: the female/lunar counterpart across the 30 nymph ring defines the actual mapping. This would reframe the zodiac not as degree lists, but as lunisolar day mapping (29-30 days).

Some things that confirm my idea (along with some further thought on my end): 
1. The inversion rule (Sun to Moon, and Male to Female) fits symbolic inversion practices of the 15th century; and the consistency of 29-30 nymphs per ring across the manuscript confirms a lunar cycle theory.

2. Sagittarius being a deliberate pointer to the downward-star nymph suggests to me intentional signaling. 

3. The gender inversion also fits the broader symbolic traditions of the 15th century. The motif of the crossbowman matches Central European (Bohemian/Hussite-war era) iconography. I believe our author originated in Bohemia or was there during the religious wars, and that's why this book was created in the first place.


Some other thoughts I had: 
1. Was the manuscript authored by a woman? Given the focus on cycles, or by a man with a medical/alchemical background?
2. Do the colored stars function as secondary markers (lunar/planetary, or cycle heaviness)? 
3. Ultimately I suppose I'm curious if there are anomalies distributed in a way that supports the inversion model I proposed?

I would love to hear your thoughts on whether this model holds when applied across the other zodiac folios. 

Happy hunting!

(27-08-2025, 10:34 PM)Jorge_Stolfi Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I see only one nymph without star (and without the left arm), the one on the outer band at 07:30.  Msybe you mean the one at 07:00?  That one has a star, but it is almost completely obscured by a smudge of green paint.

On the other hand, the star of the rightmost one at the top, outside the diagram at 12:30, does not have an inked outline. Instead the star is painted with the light yellow paint (which, on the other stars, is used only to paint a round spot in the middle).

Thus on this page there are 30 nymphs, 30 labels, but only 29 stars, including the one without outline.

There is another star with no inked outline, also "corrected" by the Yellow Painter, on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (inner band at 07:00).  And another missing star on f72v2 (inner band, 01:00).  And another one on f72v3 (inner band at 09:00).  And two on f72r3 (middle band at 03:00 and outer band at 08:30). And another missing star on f72r2 (outer band at 04:00) and two without inked outline (inner band at 02:00 and outer band at 08:30). And on f70v2 (Pisces) there are only 29 nymphs and stars, but there is an extra star with a label in the central medallion.  

The arrow of the archer in f73v pointing at the anomalous nymph is an intriguing detail. Still, I would guess that it was only a coincidence.  My preferred explanation for all the anomalies above is that the Scribe just skipped arms and stars by mistake.  The person who applied the light yellow paint noticed some of the mistakes and corrected them by painting the missing stars; but did not correct (or notice?) several others.

As for the missing nymph of Pisces, I believe that the Scribe miscalculated the space available and found, too late, that there was no space for the 30th nymph. So he just drew her star in the central medallion and wrote her label there.

Here is a detailed verbal description of f73v.  (Note - still working on it.)
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DESCRIPTION

  Page layout:

    Six faint, mostly concentric, mechanical circles delimit
    three rings of text (units û{R1}, û{R2}, û{R3}, outside-in). There
    is a wider gap in the middle ring at 09:30, and faint radial
    strokes cutting across the three rings at 09:00, 09:30, and 09:30,
    inner to outer. Rene [07 Apr 1999] reports that the text in the
    rings seems to have been written with a sharper than average pen.

    Inside the inner circle is a beardless human figure, possibly male
    (but not obviously so), apparently smiling, walking Westward.
    The figure has a pointy chin and a dark smudge behind the head.

    The figure is wearing a hat with round rim and a long veil or
    plume falling down his back to waist level. He is also wearing a
    shirt with ring collar and broad sleeves, closed at the wrist; a
    flaring skirt, with heavy pleats and scalloped rim, down to knee
    level; and pointed boots, reaching up to mid-leg.

    The figure has on his right hand an armed crossbow, which is
    pointing forward and a bit down. The crossbow's butt is hidden by
    the archer's right arm. The left arm is stretched forward and down
    too; the left hand seems to be open, palm up and thumb forward,
    next to the right hand. The "barrel" of the crossbow is an
    inch-wide bar, ending with a round bulb just under the bow's
    attachment point. The barrel is supported by a rectangular board,
    about two inches wide. The bow has uniform thickness for most of
    its length, and then suddenly narrows down to wire-like
    extensions, bent forward. The arrow has a large tip, which
    intrudes into the inner text ring, sporting short triangular
    "wings" near the shaft; and a compact, bulbous tail.

    Between the figure's feet is an almost illegible word, possibly
    "oct2..." in lowercase Roman letters (with a "t" resembling EVA "c",
    and the "2" as a small superscript).  The word may continue over the
    archer's boots, but cannot be read.

    Between the rings of text, there are two bands of naked female
    figures (nymphs), 10 in the inner one and 16 in the outer one.
    There are 4 additional nymphs standing on top of the outer ring of
    text. There are extra-wide gaps in the inner band at 10:30, and in
    the outer band at 11:00.

    All of the nymphs are in 3/4 view, facing CW. All have full
    breasts (except perhaps the one in the second-innermost band at
    01:00). Most have light hair, shoulder-long or longer. None have
    hats, but some have a narrow crown-like band on top of the head.

    Almost every nymph has the right arm bent backwards, with the hand
    resting on her back, buttock, waist, thigh, or hip; however four
    nymphs have the right arm stretched back and down. The feet are
    generally hidden behind the text ring, but sometimes visible.

    Almost every nymph is holding a standard star by one of the rays, with
    her left hand, slightly above her head. One exception is the inner
    band nymph at 08:00, which is holding the star low, near the ground.
    That star is partly behind a donut-like object right in front and to
    the left of her left knee. Another exception is the outer band nymph
    at 07:45, which has no left arm and no star. Also, three of the nymphs
    at the top are holding the respective stars by wire-like tails. The
    stars are proportionately about a foot in diam, with triangular rays
    and a dark center.

    In front (CW) of the nymph wo star (outer 07:45), there is a dark spot
    near the ground, and faint smudges on either side of her head. There
    may be also small moons next to the elbow of that nymph and the
    following one (outer 08:30).

    The star held by the outer 07:15 nymph is almost entirely covered
    by an ink blot; a smaller blot covers the face of the inner 07:15
    nymph.

    There are two horz barrels, about a foot wide and three feet
    long, lying on the ground behind the first two nymphs at the top
    of the diagram. The barrels are crudely drawn, with strokes of
    uneven thickness, and undecorated. The left end of each barrel seems
    to be closer to the viewer. 

    There may be something drawn between the 2nd and 3rd nymphs
    (11:30 and 00:00) at the top of the diagram.

    There is a label just CW of each nymph (units û{S0}, û{S1},
    û{S2}, outside-in).

    ??? Star with no outline

    ??? Nymph with no left arm

    ??? Nymph holding star down

    The following table summarizes the nymph attributes. The "hand" column
    gives the position of the right hand; a hour figure means that the
    right arm is held more or less straight, in that direction relative to
    the nymph. The "r" column is the number of rays in each star.

      band  label place hand  r t notes
      ----- ----- ----- ----- - - ----------------------
      inner S2.1  11:30 hip  9 . 
      inner S2.2  00:30 hip  9 . 
      inner S2.3  01:30 hip  7 . 
      inner S2.4  02:45 07:00 7 .
      inner S2.5  03:45 waist 7 .
      inner S2.6  05:00 waist 7 .
      inner S2.7  06:00 hip  8 .
      inner S2.8  07:15 hip  8 . face blotted out
      inner S2.9  08:00 hip  7 . star held down
      inner S2.10 09:30 butt  7 .
                                .
      outer S1.1  10:15 08:30 8 .
      outer S1.2  10:45 butt  8 .               
      outer S1.3  11:30 butt  8 . coronet             
      outer S1.4  00:15 hip  9 .               
      outer S1.5  00:45 hip  9 .               
      outer S1.6  01:15 hip  7 . no breasts?   
      outer S1.7  01:45 07:30 8 .
      outer S1.8  02:30 hip  7 . coronet
      outer S1.9  03:15 butt  7 .
      outer S1.10 04:15 butt  8 .
      outer S1.11 05:00 hip  9 .
      outer S1.12 06:15 hip  8 .
      outer S1.13 07:15 hip  ? . star blotted out
      outer S1.14 07:45 butt  - . no star, no left arm
      outer S1.15 08:30 hip  7 .
      outer S1.16 09:30 hip  7 .

      top  S0.1  11:00 butt  7 t short tail
      top  S0.2  11:30 hip  7 
      top  S0.3  00:00 hip?  8 t very short tail
      top  S0.4  00:30 hip  6 t star outline missing

    There seem to be very faint drawings outside the diagram,
    particularly in the broad bottom margin.

    Rene [07 Apr 1999] observes that there is some green printout
    on this page, but it doesn't come from f75r.

INTERPRETATIONS

  It is not clear whether the radial strokes in the inner and outer
  test rings are modern or original.

  The archer's pointy chin may be a light beard, and the smudge
  behind his head may be hair. Someone has identified the figure's
  hat as a fifteenth century Florentine archer's hat [1,2].

  A curious coincidence is that the two blots at 07:15 are followed
  by nymphs with "anomalous" stars (one of them faded or reduced to
  a low dot, the other held down by the nymph).

  The "tails" at the top of the diagram may be due to the stars
  having been drawn before the nymphs.

REFERENCES

  [1] D'Imperio, page 7 (reported by Michael Roe).
 
  [2] Brumbaugh75, page 349 (reported by Michael Roe).

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