[split] f35v parallels "oak and ivy"

[MarcoP]

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."

Thank you, Koen. D'Imperio's observations are excellent. It's interesting that she parallels the VMS illustrations with an early printed herbal (Tractatus de virtutibus herbarum, 1491), one of whose illustrations (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) was reproduced by Tiltman. The same set of engravings contains You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. of the “hollow-roots” that we discussed You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..

According to D'Imperio, plants look “chuncky”, “mechanical”, roots look “like a string of wooden blocks”. This reminds me of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. by Paolo Uccello (painted in 1450 ca).

Both horses and men look a little wooden, almost like toys, and the whole gay picture seems very remote from the reality of war. But if we ask ourselves why it is that these horses look somewhat like rocking horses and the whole scene reminds us a little of a puppet show, we shall make a curious discovery. It is precisely because the painter was so fascinated by the new possibilities of his art that he did everything to make his figures stand out in space as if they were carved and not painted.
…
By means of his beloved art of perspective, he tried to construct a convincing stage on which his figures would appear solid and real. Solid they undoubtedly look, but the effect is a little reminiscent of the stereoscopic pictures which one looks at through a pair of lenses. Uccello had not yet learned how to use the effects of light and shade and air to mellow the harsh outlines of a strictly perspective rendering.

The “harsh outlines” and “carved figures” discussed by Gombrich correspond to the “hard outlines” and “blocky arrangement” discussed by D'Imperio. I see them as a trademark of the XV Century efforts to more realistically render three-dimensional objects. Finding good parallels for these features in other herbals is not easy, but I agree it's an interesting task. Also, we are now in a much better position than D'Imperio was forty years ago: access to many manuscript herbals is much easier now.