Morten St George Theory

[Morten St. George]

And yes, I agree with Tentakulus, and it may have been VViews who posted some good visual examples, but the drawing top left looks like a carcass hung to drip and cure. 

I had qualms with those of you who claimed that it was a medieval stove (presumably used for cooking goats) but I have no problem with it being a carcass. Only I would add that it has to be the carcass of a marsh deer (depicted), not the carcass of a goat.

For something less ambiguous, please look at the following drawing where you see the carcass of spotted jaguar that was just conquered (note the raised right hand signaling triumph over the predator animal):



She is about to wash the carcass in the clean blue water you see in the barrel. It was normal procedure to wash carcasses in clean water.

Drawings of butchered animals hanging from hooks are common in books of health from the 14th and 15th centuries. But maybe you don't believe that either.

Since you are an expert in medieval butchery, then surely you recognize the instrument that the gal on the right is holding in her hand. It was the standard medieval instrument for removing animal hair from the carcass. Using both hands they would hold the instrument by its outer handles and use the curved blade to scrape the hide.

Apparently the gal holding the instrument, doubtless a parchment-making student of the instructor on the left, is dreaming about making herself a skirt out of animal skin.

I find it very sad that institutionalized ignorance on the made-in-northern-Italy theme (now extended to northern Europe by some) makes you guys incapable of seeing that the VMS depicts the real experiences of real women trying to survive in a real tropical swamp.