19-06-2017, 07:55 PM
I see the statement "and the lack of any Christian imagery" as problematic. One might consider whether the term 'lack' indicates either 'paucity' or 'absence', but "lack of any" is probably absence. But what is the nature of absence, is it the state of something that does not exist? Or is it the state of something that is not known and has yet to be discovered? Something that is not known will probably not be recognized. Without conscious recognition, we may see things, but not understand what they mean. The failure to recognize elements of the VMs does not mean that all possibilities have been well examined.
The Genoese Gambit, focused on VMs White Aries, poses the silent question, the test of recognition: Does the reader known the historical origins of the Roman Catholic tradition of the red galero, the cardinal's hat, the Genoese bonnet? And let us differentiate between the modern reader and a sort of 'medieval' reader. Clearly this is *not* information which modern readers are likely to have picked up on. There is no recognition and, therefore, there is no imagery.
However, to the 'medieval' reader, in times where church education predominated, the possibility of recognition might have been better.
Is there another proposed identification in the VMs that has more independent elements to supply confirmation than this identification of the origin of an on-going, historical, heraldic, religious tradition?
The Genoese Gambit, focused on VMs White Aries, poses the silent question, the test of recognition: Does the reader known the historical origins of the Roman Catholic tradition of the red galero, the cardinal's hat, the Genoese bonnet? And let us differentiate between the modern reader and a sort of 'medieval' reader. Clearly this is *not* information which modern readers are likely to have picked up on. There is no recognition and, therefore, there is no imagery.
However, to the 'medieval' reader, in times where church education predominated, the possibility of recognition might have been better.
Is there another proposed identification in the VMs that has more independent elements to supply confirmation than this identification of the origin of an on-going, historical, heraldic, religious tradition?