History of the World scroll, St. Gallen, Kantonsbibliothek, VadSlg Ms. 1000

[Koen G]

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is a scroll depicting the history of the world (mostly the Biblical history and that of the Church) up to the 14th century. It was made in the second half of the 14th century by the Italian Franciscan friar Johannes de Utino (Giovanni da Udine).

The scroll is a beautifully intricate work worth viewing even without Voynich considerations. I strongly recommend not using the website's viewer, but rather clicking the blue "DOWNLOAD" button underneath.

It was the use of patterns that drew my attention though. They kind of border everything that has a "holy" or important aura with these parallel lines. In the case of the top image, there are crosses as well (tree of life? And Adam & Eve.)

   

You can go down the scroll and see where else they use this pattern. The sun and moon get it (rays of light) but also important cities of the Holy Land, Rome... The name of Jesus of course.

And then there's this... It's got all these things relentlessly flowing into one another, all leading to the world's inevitable conclusion. Usually it's with names, but there are some images as well. Here is the Menorah connecting to the Temple.

   

It's all a bit too different to draw any strong conclusions. I certainly don't want to say that the VM makers had access to this scroll. But perhaps something similar?

[Mark Knowles]

It's all a bit too different to draw any strong conclusions. I certainly don't want to say that the VM makers had access to this scroll. But perhaps something similar?

What do you see as the similarities?

[Koen G]

What do you see as the similarities?

Similar use of parallel lines around items. Presence of castles, round diagrams, a temple with pillars apparently connected to an oversized candelabra from the top left corner. There is even a round diagram somewhere on there with similar elements to that of the left middle Rosette.

Again, it's not quite the same, and I wouldn't claim that the VM copied this scroll or depicts the exact same thing. But the visual vocabulary is remarkable.

[MarcoP]

Thank you, Koen. The detail you attached is very suggestive. I agree that the combination of rotae and castles is another interesting feature.

I also see some similarity between Giovanni’s diagram of the gates (“porte” of Jerusalem?) and the South-Center rosette. In particular, radially arranged arches with inscribed text. I think we discussed other similar diagrams showing gates in the past.
   

[Ruby Novacna]

I admit that my contribution is off topic: I want to talk about the good quality of the image that allows to clearly distinguish some inaccuracies in the transcription that I usually use. The words in the transcription: olche[t:k]y, chfady, tolf[ch:a]d and shdaiin would be olcheky, chfchdy, tolfchg and shodaiin.
What do you think?

[Bluetoes101]

I admit that my contribution is off topic: I want to talk about the good quality of the image that allows to clearly distinguish some inaccuracies in the transcription that I usually use. The words in the transcription: olche[t:k]y, chfady, tolf[ch:a]d and shdaiin would be olcheky, chfchdy, tolfchg and shodaiin.
What do you think?

My reading would be "ol'cheky, chfchdy, tolf[c:i]hg, shodaiin"
The space between ol and cheky is definitely unsure. The bench after "tolf" might be "ih", hard to know with it filled in, more likely to be "ch".
But yes, in general I'd agree with your reading.

[Koen G]

I also see some similarity between Giovanni’s diagram of the gates (“porte” of Jerusalem?) and the South-Center rosette. In particular, radially arranged arches with inscribed text. I think we discussed other similar diagrams showing gates in the past.

I had been wondering what this diagram meant, and whether the gates are supposed to be six or twelve. I would not expect the twelve gates of Heavenly Jerusalem here since the diagram does not depict that part of the eschaton. 

It appears that manuscripts with similar schematic histories of the world have six gates of the "worldly" city of Jerusalem. There are a number of Harley manuscripts that spread this whole scheme of connected dots over many folios. In Harley MS 658, the Jerusalem is on f37r. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

   

[MarcoP]

Giovanni’s script is largely beyond my comprehension, but he mentions six gates:

Hec est descriptio civi-tatis sanctae Jerusalem cum vi portis … hedificaverunt …

This is a description of the holy city of Jerusalem, with 6 gates . they built …

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