30-08-2019, 05:17 AM
I don't think the VMS nymphs are onlookers (at least not all of them).
I think many of them are active participants. In my blog, I referred to them as "celestial engineers" because I think there are quite a few who are, in a sense, carrying out orders or engineering what happens below or within the frames.
It's like angels. In medieval belief systems, there were some angels at the top. They had names (Michael, Gabriel, Azariel, etc.). Then there were the more ephemeral ones who were believed to appear and to "dissolve" as needed, carrying out tasks in between, sending messages, blowing trumpets, raining hail and fire rain down upon the Earth. God's emissaries.
I think part of the reason many of the nymphs are in loges is because it's somewhat analogous to a cloudband, it marks a distinction between celestial beings and corporeal beings. Very frequently, in medieval illustrations, the celestial beings are seen only from the knees or waist or chest up.
I think something similar is going on with many of the nymphs—the ones flying around in loges have some special status. It wasn't only angels who were treated this way in medieval art, saints were often portrayed on elevated pedestals, as well.
I think this is why "loges" or cloudbands are used in medieval genealogy diagrams. The people in the pictures are no longer alive, they are of the spirit (presumably in heaven) and have a special status as ancestors (ancestor status is particularly high in eastern cultures).
Also, the "explainers" in some manuscripts, the ones holding scrolls with information about what is going on in the center are sometimes shown only from the waist up, as well (sometimes with cloudbands). This lets the viewer know they are not real people (not part of the main action), but are revealing the action (or carrying out the task of making it happen). They are like sages from the past.
I think many of them are active participants. In my blog, I referred to them as "celestial engineers" because I think there are quite a few who are, in a sense, carrying out orders or engineering what happens below or within the frames.
It's like angels. In medieval belief systems, there were some angels at the top. They had names (Michael, Gabriel, Azariel, etc.). Then there were the more ephemeral ones who were believed to appear and to "dissolve" as needed, carrying out tasks in between, sending messages, blowing trumpets, raining hail and fire rain down upon the Earth. God's emissaries.
I think part of the reason many of the nymphs are in loges is because it's somewhat analogous to a cloudband, it marks a distinction between celestial beings and corporeal beings. Very frequently, in medieval illustrations, the celestial beings are seen only from the knees or waist or chest up.
I think something similar is going on with many of the nymphs—the ones flying around in loges have some special status. It wasn't only angels who were treated this way in medieval art, saints were often portrayed on elevated pedestals, as well.
I think this is why "loges" or cloudbands are used in medieval genealogy diagrams. The people in the pictures are no longer alive, they are of the spirit (presumably in heaven) and have a special status as ancestors (ancestor status is particularly high in eastern cultures).
Also, the "explainers" in some manuscripts, the ones holding scrolls with information about what is going on in the center are sometimes shown only from the waist up, as well (sometimes with cloudbands). This lets the viewer know they are not real people (not part of the main action), but are revealing the action (or carrying out the task of making it happen). They are like sages from the past.