13-08-2017, 08:40 PM
Anton's post above got me thinking too.
It appears that almost all of the four-legged animals in the Voynich are depicted in the same pose, even outside of the zodiac section: you can observe it on 79v's yellow creature as well as on the animal in the 116v marginalia.
Interestingly, the preferred animal pose echoes Koen Gh's remark about nymph legs: the legs closest to the viewer are generally straight and the farther one is slightly bent.
Exceptions:
-the "armadillo" and the red creature on 79v, which share a curled-up pose
-the green animal and the blue animal on 79v, which again share the same pose: in this pose the front leg closest to the viewer is raised.
As with the nymphs, it appears the artist here is using only a very limited set of poses for the animals. Whether this is a meaningful choice, a reflection of limited skill, or the product of copying another manuscript which would be a source for these images, remains to be determined.
It appears that almost all of the four-legged animals in the Voynich are depicted in the same pose, even outside of the zodiac section: you can observe it on 79v's yellow creature as well as on the animal in the 116v marginalia.
Interestingly, the preferred animal pose echoes Koen Gh's remark about nymph legs: the legs closest to the viewer are generally straight and the farther one is slightly bent.
Exceptions:
-the "armadillo" and the red creature on 79v, which share a curled-up pose
-the green animal and the blue animal on 79v, which again share the same pose: in this pose the front leg closest to the viewer is raised.
As with the nymphs, it appears the artist here is using only a very limited set of poses for the animals. Whether this is a meaningful choice, a reflection of limited skill, or the product of copying another manuscript which would be a source for these images, remains to be determined.