Diane: "...A European didn't have to see an angel or mermaid to draw one; there was no need to sit and copy one particular statue or manuscript "
An angel is a person with wings. Everyone (except the blind) has seen a person. Everyone who has seen a bird knows what wings are.
They HAVE seen examples of the components that comprise an angel or mermaid. A blind person, even if they regained sight long enough to draw something, if they were in an empty room with no references, would have a hard time drawing either angel or mermaid but any sighted person can draw them because they are composites of something they have previously seen.
They may not be drawing directly from life, but they are drawing from life experience. Even if they draw from a verbal description, they still base their interpretation of it on things they've seen.
The VMS illustrator did not draw the rhizome based on other herbals. No one had rendered one in such detail yet.
"That we don't have anything identical is just bad historical luck."
I think it's the opposite. If Mozart and Picasso had been copyists instead of creators, we wouldn't have much interest in their work.
An angel is a person with wings. Everyone (except the blind) has seen a person. Everyone who has seen a bird knows what wings are.
They HAVE seen examples of the components that comprise an angel or mermaid. A blind person, even if they regained sight long enough to draw something, if they were in an empty room with no references, would have a hard time drawing either angel or mermaid but any sighted person can draw them because they are composites of something they have previously seen.
They may not be drawing directly from life, but they are drawing from life experience. Even if they draw from a verbal description, they still base their interpretation of it on things they've seen.
The VMS illustrator did not draw the rhizome based on other herbals. No one had rendered one in such detail yet.
"That we don't have anything identical is just bad historical luck."
I think it's the opposite. If Mozart and Picasso had been copyists instead of creators, we wouldn't have much interest in their work.