So, I hate to start out like a travel brochure: 'Burgundy was a vibrant mixture of cultures." Philip the Good not only had a cross cultural genetic inheritance, he acquired various lands through inheritance, purchase and conquest. And sometimes had to hold them through conquest. There were relations and influences from other countries. Looking through the KBR collection there are historical chronicles of various places, some of which were possessions, but others as far as Morea, Milan, or Hungary. So there are all kinds of influences floating about.
What we learn from the various motifs is the breadth and depth of the VMs artist's / author's information base. We learn from the Oresme cosmos that the VMs artist knows the Oresme cosmos. We learn from Melusine that the VMs artist knows the myth and the history of Melusine. We learn from the nebuly line that the artist knows and uses the traditional interpretation of the nebuly line (where it suits). We know from the Golden Fleece and the Agnus Dei of 1313, that the VMs artist knows Burgundian events and was probably in the Duke of Burgundy's library. And as such some may think it reasonable to presume that the VMs artist probably did not connect with Eskimos, Japanese, Aborigines, or any other culture so distant from the central European location that is suggested by the evidence considered above.
And we do know, from various examples above, and others (the Genoese Gambit, the papelonny pun) that the VMs is less than clearly expository, but instead makes clear efforts at achieving a certain level of covert transmission of information, as far as certain illustrations are concerned. It can sometimes be difficult to separate intentional obfuscation in the illustration from the lack of investigative familiarity.
The accumulated depth of detailed information from the VMs illustrations seems to be sufficient that it would most probably be acquired by direct experience. Achieving sufficient information and the familiarity to manipulate the images based on secondary sources seems more problematic, though not necessarily impossible.
What we learn from the various motifs is the breadth and depth of the VMs artist's / author's information base. We learn from the Oresme cosmos that the VMs artist knows the Oresme cosmos. We learn from Melusine that the VMs artist knows the myth and the history of Melusine. We learn from the nebuly line that the artist knows and uses the traditional interpretation of the nebuly line (where it suits). We know from the Golden Fleece and the Agnus Dei of 1313, that the VMs artist knows Burgundian events and was probably in the Duke of Burgundy's library. And as such some may think it reasonable to presume that the VMs artist probably did not connect with Eskimos, Japanese, Aborigines, or any other culture so distant from the central European location that is suggested by the evidence considered above.
And we do know, from various examples above, and others (the Genoese Gambit, the papelonny pun) that the VMs is less than clearly expository, but instead makes clear efforts at achieving a certain level of covert transmission of information, as far as certain illustrations are concerned. It can sometimes be difficult to separate intentional obfuscation in the illustration from the lack of investigative familiarity.
The accumulated depth of detailed information from the VMs illustrations seems to be sufficient that it would most probably be acquired by direct experience. Achieving sufficient information and the familiarity to manipulate the images based on secondary sources seems more problematic, though not necessarily impossible.