Q13a - Architectural frames

[-JKP-]

My opening post was not really about what I think the nymphs are (that's rather complex, but known to most), but rather what I think may have served as a template for their layout, and the architectural appearance of certain bases.

Something like the top-right figure on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is almost exactly what statues stand on. 

Well that was kind of the point I was making. I must have worded it badly... Those of elevated status (angels, saints, sages), were depicted on loges and pedestals in medieval art.

In addition to the "zoomers" in manuscripts, I was thinking of this kind of pedestal—the kind that is "elevated" so that it looks like it's floating on the sides of buildings rather than being on the ground. Many of the nymphs are in "floating" loges (they are like bartizans as opposed to ground pedestals):

   


And here's the simplified illustrative version of the idea of saints and sages on pedestals and cloudbands providing information. The way they are cut off at the middle (or standing on a pedestal) is a way of denoting higher status or wisdom. It's the manuscript version of "elevated" saints and sages (elevated in the metaphorical sense since not all illustrators had the space, or were capable of drawing the fancy pedestals and architectural wonders that appeared in some of the better Flemish and French art)

   


And here is the same idea applied to angels with their lower half cut off.:

   

Image credit: detail from Wikipedia



I don't think it's possible to completely separate the way the VMS nymphs are drawn from what they represent (unless they represent something completely different in the VMS from everything else in medieval art).

I don't know specifically what they represent, but if they are a product of the medieval age and consistent with medieval iconographical traditions, then the "zoomers", the platforms and bartizans that elevate the nymphs and especially if they hide the lower part of their bodies, give them special status which, in medieval iconography, usually means they are conferring information or carrying out orders or standing by to give something more importance (most of which are not passive activities but active engagement with the viewers).

So we can talk about what the nymphs are on another thread, but that's what I think the zoomers are... I think they are like elevated pedestals, especially like the ones I posted that are high up on buildings.