08-04-2016, 04:34 PM
"The Byzantine theory suffers from similar problems as the European one. Not in the least, the question: where is Jesus in the Voynich? Where are the saints and winged angels?"
I wouldn't worry too much about that.
A lot of what we expect of the Middle Ages comes from the tenacious stereotypes about it that were established during the so-called Enlightenment. We have yet to break free from the idea that people in what are still called the "dark ages" were filthy, that they were paralyzed by their fear of God and incapable of experiment, innovation, humor or critical thought.
Although several scholars have argued in favor of a rethink of our view of the Middle Ages (the earliest was probably Charles Haskins in 1927), it is only in the 1950's and 60's that the clichés have begun to be truly deconstructed and disproven in detail, and these re-evaluations are still not widely known today.
There are literally countless European medieval books of medicine, bestiaries, herbals, and other technical/scientific manuscripts that feature no angels, saints or Christian imagery in their illustrations, although they may (or not) refer to them in the text. Admittedly, I know less about Byzantium, but looking at the herbals ReneZ linked to in the Touwaide thread on this forum, I don't see any religious references in the illustrations there either.
I wouldn't worry too much about that.
A lot of what we expect of the Middle Ages comes from the tenacious stereotypes about it that were established during the so-called Enlightenment. We have yet to break free from the idea that people in what are still called the "dark ages" were filthy, that they were paralyzed by their fear of God and incapable of experiment, innovation, humor or critical thought.
Although several scholars have argued in favor of a rethink of our view of the Middle Ages (the earliest was probably Charles Haskins in 1927), it is only in the 1950's and 60's that the clichés have begun to be truly deconstructed and disproven in detail, and these re-evaluations are still not widely known today.
There are literally countless European medieval books of medicine, bestiaries, herbals, and other technical/scientific manuscripts that feature no angels, saints or Christian imagery in their illustrations, although they may (or not) refer to them in the text. Admittedly, I know less about Byzantium, but looking at the herbals ReneZ linked to in the Touwaide thread on this forum, I don't see any religious references in the illustrations there either.