Rosettes and Revelations Pt.1: The Holy City - Koen Gheuens and Cary Rapaport

[Koen G]

When Cary and I posted our grand overview of possible Christian themes in the Voynich images, a common (and justified) complaint was that the post was too long. Therefore, we decided to treat each subject separately, and to start with the Rosettes foldout.

What I thought would be a quick rewrite, ended up in a complete revision that took us half a year. We soon realized that this post about the Rosettes would be too long as well, and decided to chop it up into smaller, bite-size chunks. The advantage of this is that the post is compact and limited in scope, easier to digest. The disadvantage is that we can only present a part of our evidence at the time. But I think it is better like this.

Part one is online now. The second part is almost finished and will be published next week. 

The first piece of the puzzle focuses entirely on the "walls" connecting the outer circles: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..

[Antonio García Jiménez]

I agree that the new Jerusalem or heavenly Jerusalem can be represented on the Rosettes pages. It is as if the city were based on the sphere of the fixed stars. It is an original representation that comes to say, according to medieval thought, that it is God who gives power to the stars. In L'image du monde, by Gautier or Gossouin de Metz, it is said that All difference that happens by nature in herbs, in plants in animals happens through the celestial power that God gave to the stars.

In the VM there are other Christian signs, such as this flower in the shape of a cross that seems to have been made with the nails of the crucifixion. 

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Or this female figure holding a cross, which is very obvious

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Or this bird that I believe represents the Holy Spirit

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Everything in the Voynich seems to be drawn with childish features, as if it were a game. Taking into account the high number of scribes involved, according to Lisa Fagin Davis, makes me think that the book was born in a monastery and was made by very playful monks

[DONJCH]

Wow. Nice work, Cary and Koen! Impressive. Convincing. Accounting for many obscure and baffling details in the Rosettes.

I eagerly await the next installment...

[DONJCH]

There's one little detail I've been thinking of. Those conical faded yellow rooves on the towers were obviously a real thing at the time, you showed one I think in the swallowtail merlon thread.

In reality I think these could have been brass, sometimes polished brass, which would be impressive enough shining in the sun.

Perhaps in the Rosettes, if indeed they are part of the City of Jerusalem, they are truly meant to represent gold?

Elsewhere on this site it was mentioned years ago that the yellow paint was particularly prone to fading so I wonder what it looked like when fresh?

[Koen G]

Wow. Nice work, Cary and Koen! Impressive. Convincing. Accounting for many obscure and baffling details in the Rosettes.

I eagerly await the next installment..

Thanks, that's really nice to hear! 

I think you are right about the roofs. It's hard to prove of course, since all we have now is faded yellow.

[DONJCH]

 It's hard to prove of course, since all we have now is faded yellow.

(Notice how I write ungrammatically in fragments, ruthlessly split infinitives, and fearlessly use the contentious "fresh" )

If I thought about the faded yellow in old manuscripts, probably 10,000 others have too and I bet some serious artist has already mixed up some batches according to the original recipe and posted somewhere. Must seek.

[Aga Tentakulus]

Brass or even gold-plated roofs is certainly a nice idea, and I don't want to criticise the fantasy. But the yellow roofs were real. The difference lies in the material used. Clay (red) or clay (yellow).
Depending on what was more available on site.

In any case, this is an interesting clue that is worth investigating further. Let's see what the map of clay mining areas says about it.

[luiscrassus]

It´s the underworld. Nine purgatory circles. Doesn´t that resemble Dante Alighieri?

[bi3mw]

I find your approach very interesting, especially the interpretation of the high walls. I am already very curious about the continuation of your theesis in the next part.

I think your representation differs so clearly from Wastl and Feger that one can hardly compare them.

[Koen G]

I find your approach very interesting, especially the interpretation of the high walls. I am already very curious about the continuation of your theesis in the next part.

I think your representation differs so clearly from Wastl and Feger that one can hardly compare them.

Thanks! 
Yeah, the thing is that W&F do call it Heavenly Jerusalem, but when I went to read what they actually wrote, it turned out to be about the "old", earthly Jerusalem, used in a different context. But it was a good opportunity to introduce the different concepts.