Women as allegory for the life force of plants - or just a plant biology lesson?

[Aurara84]

I think many of the large plant drawings are actually well done, but they are ruined by the paint job. This is why some researchers even prefer to ignore color altogether because the painting is so irregular, and some of the thicker paint may have been added later. 

BUT then again, on some pages the paint job is decent! Just look at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , the leaves on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and so on. There are many examples. Now compare this to the sloppy painting on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. for example. Just to say, it's complicated...

I've just been reading the fascinating thread on colour annotations and the paint job in general (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) 
Interesting to note the difference in seeming importance and/or origins of the colours chosen for the 'bathing' section (or plant biology pages if you're me   ) compared to the large plant illustrations. And I hadn't studied it hard enough to pick up on the pointers that there was possibly more than one colourer.

By the way. I really appreciate you all taking the time to engage with my (amateur) questions. There's so much fascinating discussion going on on this site and I'm going to enjoy reading through more of it. 

Already the colour annotations have grabbed my imagination... medieval paint-by-numbers! 
I realise I probably have quite different motivations for being here compared to most. I would love to see the VM decoded and it's purpose/content become clearer, but as a visual artist I am also enamoured with the multiplicity of possibilities it affords at present. 

I hope no one minds my newbie comments cropping up on other posts occasionally. 
I just wanted to be clear I know I know nothing! And I appreciate being included in the conversation.

Plus obvs I need to prove my plant biology textbook theory   

Laura
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