[split] f35v parallels "oak and ivy"

[Koen G]

Thanks Marco, that's a clear and to the point explanation of your views. I do agree that a north Italian setting is likely for the production of the VM, and of course I don't dispute the results of the carbon dating either. I also understand why you see renaissance herbal innovations as a suitable backdrop for the production of a manuscript like this.

To some extent I am open to the possibility that the VM consists because of renaissance currents. But the renaissance only happened because people rediscovered their pre-medieval history and the interest in older material grew. Of course that's just one aspect of the renaissance, there was also, as you indicate, a renewed interest (and trust) in personal observation, which is indeed why some of the new herbals are naturalistic.

Now the VM is clearly not realistic/naturalistic. Several authors, including D'Imperio, have remarked that it looks like it should be part of a long standing tradition, but the belief in an authorial figure has always hampered the growth of such observations. She writes (p.14-15) that "plant parts frequently have a curious blocky, chunky, rough-hewn look, with platform-like structures surrounded by hard outlines defining a sharp change of plane. [...] A somewhat similar blocky, rough-hewn appearance is seen in some herbal drawings in other manuscripts, that have been copied over and over again from some earlier source by successive scribes." 

She continues that if this were the case, we should be able to pinpoint the tradition from which they were copied, since "the different sets of illustrations for early herbals were relatively few". She then switches from this flash of insight to rather standard "authorial" thinking, blaming the draughtsman for coming up with all this himself.

So basically: it looks like it's the result of copying from an old tradition --> I don't know this tradition --> everything was invented by the author.

Occam's razor is a good guide, but the way it cuts is determined by your premises.
The VM plants look like the result of copying from an old tradition --> I don't know this tradition, but many works have been lost --> the tradition from which the VM derives has been lost.