14-06-2017, 07:35 PM
I also agree with Helmut, that this is a collection of information from a variety of sources, possibly drawn and painted by a single individual over time, though this is not the only potential explanation. And I'd say that a prime example of such borrowing from other sources can be seem in the comparison of VMs You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. with the Oresme illustration of the cosmos as referenced by E. Velinska, and discussed here previously. And even though the earth and stars are surrounded by only a plain nebuly line in the VMs representation, rather than the elaborate, scallop-shell patterned, blue and white cloud band of the original Oresme depiction, there is a clear similarity. And subsequently, the missing cloud band, absent from the VMs illustration was located by D. Hoffmann in the VMs central rosette. And even the internal structure of the VMs cloud band is quite similar to that of the Oresme example. So it seems obvious that there are external sources for what we find in the VMs.
But then there are problems. Why are things so strange and difficult to interpret and verify? Why are the violets inverted? Why aren't the plant identifications more straightforward. Why is the VMs representation of Oresme's ccosmos in two parts? Why is the purported cultural source of this manuscript fictitious? It seems to be the author's intention to create a world of strangeness and then use that creation as a place to hide normal, traditional, historical information such as the Oresme cosmos, which has been separated into two parts because it would be, or at least should be, all too obvious otherwise.
Standard medieval information regarding the Greek alphabet, the Roman and medieval number systems has been tucked away in the 17 symbol sequence of f57v. Visual interpretation is confirmed through an objective determination of placement. Each of the seventeen symbols can be assigned an interpretive equivalent in each of the three traditional numerical or alphabetic (possibly alphanumeric) sequences. Can this complex construction be dismissed as accidental?
The creator of the VMs has accumulated knowledge from various sources. However, rather than present this information in the standard form of simply stating facts in a straightforward manner, it appears that the reader is required to possess and use that standard medieval knowledge in order to discover the potential contents of the VMs. Does the reader know Oresme's cosmos? Or the historical origins of the red galero tradition? Or the design of a papelonny heraldic insignia? What progress can be expected?
But then there are problems. Why are things so strange and difficult to interpret and verify? Why are the violets inverted? Why aren't the plant identifications more straightforward. Why is the VMs representation of Oresme's ccosmos in two parts? Why is the purported cultural source of this manuscript fictitious? It seems to be the author's intention to create a world of strangeness and then use that creation as a place to hide normal, traditional, historical information such as the Oresme cosmos, which has been separated into two parts because it would be, or at least should be, all too obvious otherwise.
Standard medieval information regarding the Greek alphabet, the Roman and medieval number systems has been tucked away in the 17 symbol sequence of f57v. Visual interpretation is confirmed through an objective determination of placement. Each of the seventeen symbols can be assigned an interpretive equivalent in each of the three traditional numerical or alphabetic (possibly alphanumeric) sequences. Can this complex construction be dismissed as accidental?
The creator of the VMs has accumulated knowledge from various sources. However, rather than present this information in the standard form of simply stating facts in a straightforward manner, it appears that the reader is required to possess and use that standard medieval knowledge in order to discover the potential contents of the VMs. Does the reader know Oresme's cosmos? Or the historical origins of the red galero tradition? Or the design of a papelonny heraldic insignia? What progress can be expected?