9 Rosette - Specific Details

[Linda]

I like the link to "regional" map as it shows a T/O map in the corner indicating the rest of the world, as I think we see in the top right corner of the 9 Rosettes page

I rather see the TO map as indicating the attached rosette to depict the central part of  Europe, it works then with the Lombardy style castle leading over the Alps to France and Spain, and the other side leading to the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and onward to the Caucasus area.

Referring to the page which is the same or similar to the text in his book:

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I find the following passage interesting and relevant->

"However, some medieval regional maps owed nothing to classical models and drew neither their inspiration nor their coastal outlines from world maps or portolan charts. In north Italy a distinctive tradition of regional maps grew up in the later middle ages, a tradition that seems to have been independent of any outside source or precedent. More than a dozen of these maps survive, and there are contemporary references to others that are now lost. The earliest dates from 1291, but most are of the 15th century. Some are of quite a small area, such as one of Lake Garda, some are of broader scope and two cover the whole of Lombardy. They are in varied styles; what was peculiar to north Italy was the idea of drawing regional maps of any sort, not a tradition of drawing them in a particular way."

Especially the sentence->

"In north Italy a distinctive tradition of regional maps grew up in the later middle ages, a tradition that seems to have been independent of any outside source or precedent."

This would be consistent with a unique style of representation of a map.

I should add that I have not seen many of the more than a dozen Northern Italian Regional maps that Prof. Harvey refers to and the references to no longer surving maps. I have been meaning to track these down, but have not yet done so. Regarding this he says:

"More than a dozen of these maps survive, and there are contemporary references to others that are now lost."

I think the following statement is consistent with the dating of the Voynich manuscript->

"The earliest dates from 1291, but most are of the 15TH CENTURY"

I think this may explain why there seems to be a few pages worth of northern Italy in quire 13.  I believe Lake Garda figures prominently on f80r. 




Map of Lombardy (the river Po running along the left side), 1440, by Giovanni Pisato, pen and watercolour on parchment, 64x105 cm. Italy, 15th century. Treviso, Biblioteca Comunale (Library)

I believe Lake Garda is on the bottom right


Lake Garda area depicting ships brought through the mountains in the war between Venice and Milan 1439.

Satellite map of same area


Anonymous map of Italy, 15th century from the work you quoted, thanks, hadn't seen this one before!