What is the correct representation of Melusine? She is all woman; she is half-and-half; she is a dragon. And don't forget Harley 334 f 57. Whatever that is, that is what the VMs is. What is it?
Is it a generic mermaid? Okay, it's a generic mermaid. What have we learned from the investigation of mermaids that relates to VMs f79v? Nothing.
The possible interpretation as a female version of Jonah and the whale has been suggested.
The image used in the link in Post #12 is much more like a mermaid than others in 15th century illustrations.
The concept of ancestral descent from Melusine is a belief maintained in a number of royal families. The article particularly focuses on the line of Lusignan based on the story of Melusine and Raymond. Does it mention Melusine's connections to the Angevins and Plantagenets?
Jean, Duc de Berry (d.1416) took possession of the Lusignan castle from the English during the Hundred Years War, so there is that connection as seen in the March illustration of Tres Riches Heures.
The article mentions the Duke of Luxembourg as a descendant and of Melusine and then entirely misses the point. The Luxembourg version of the myth is a different version of the myth. It's not Raymond in the Luxembourg myth, it's Siegfried.
See paragraph under 'Legends': You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
This is the Luxembourg legend - and the significance of the Luxembourg legend is found in the story of Bonne of Luxembourg.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
She is the mother of the Valois family lines. She brings ancestral descent from the myth of Siegfried and Melusine directly to the Valois lines.This is what validates the connection between Melusine and the Valois descendants. This establishes a claim, one of several. It does not specify how Melusine is supposed to appear. Representations of Melusine vary, and when it comes to the VMs the variation of appearance can be intentional as seen in the cosmic comparison. The lady-fish image is there. It can either be interpreted according to a mythology that was traditional through much of the 1400s or it's just a generic 'pond scene' with no further significance. The problem is that we don't live in the time that the VMs was made (assuming that it is 'authentic'), so we don't see things from that perspective.
A similar situation with the VMs critter of f 80v. All knds of speculation, everything from armadillo to Golden Fleece along with several other possibilities not in between. The key, IMO, is the nebuly line. The identification of the nebuly line and the recognition that it can represent a cosmic boundary is a major step in making the identification. What possible critter would be associated with a cosmic boundary? That would be the Agnus Dei. That was where JKP was working, posting a number of images, one of which had the unusual quality of having an uncommon structure where the lamb and the blood are on opposite sides of a cosmic boundary. And also that the cosmic boundary consisted of a vesica piscis constructed from a cloud-band. This is only hinted at in the VMs illustration, but that's just it. The VMs only provides hints. If the reader can't use the hint, the hidden narrative remains closed, heraldic canting sits undiscovered. The particular manuscript with the Agnus Dei (BNF Fr. 13096) was in the library of Philip the Good, and this just clicks with the Golden Fleece, long suggested by others.
As I see it, Melusine is a strong hint in the tradition of the time. Although strong and not too hard to find, it is not that specific for time or place. The VMs hints for the Agnus Dei have been clearly disguised. It's more difficult to discover and it is also more specific in regard to historical time and place. Combined with the cosmos and the zodiac, this is further confirmation of deception. White Aries is pure deception. There is no denying the possibility of dual interpretation.
Tradition is the hidden pathway. Without the depths of tradition (verifiable historical tradition) there is no structure. There is no historical grounding. There is no relating to a known reality. Appearance is unreliable. The VMs has been constructed such that appearance is not reliable and the truth must be found according to religious law. So we are possibly now able to recover certain parts of what would appear to be the VMs creator's innate cultural traditions, and this points to a person or persons familiar with libraries and historical events leading up to those of the mid-1430s, from Paris and Berry and then to Burgundy. The VMs creator has used these disguised elements which combine to establish historical grounding for those who can follow the hidden pathway of tradition
Is it a generic mermaid? Okay, it's a generic mermaid. What have we learned from the investigation of mermaids that relates to VMs f79v? Nothing.
The possible interpretation as a female version of Jonah and the whale has been suggested.
The image used in the link in Post #12 is much more like a mermaid than others in 15th century illustrations.
The concept of ancestral descent from Melusine is a belief maintained in a number of royal families. The article particularly focuses on the line of Lusignan based on the story of Melusine and Raymond. Does it mention Melusine's connections to the Angevins and Plantagenets?
Jean, Duc de Berry (d.1416) took possession of the Lusignan castle from the English during the Hundred Years War, so there is that connection as seen in the March illustration of Tres Riches Heures.
The article mentions the Duke of Luxembourg as a descendant and of Melusine and then entirely misses the point. The Luxembourg version of the myth is a different version of the myth. It's not Raymond in the Luxembourg myth, it's Siegfried.
See paragraph under 'Legends': You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
This is the Luxembourg legend - and the significance of the Luxembourg legend is found in the story of Bonne of Luxembourg.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
She is the mother of the Valois family lines. She brings ancestral descent from the myth of Siegfried and Melusine directly to the Valois lines.This is what validates the connection between Melusine and the Valois descendants. This establishes a claim, one of several. It does not specify how Melusine is supposed to appear. Representations of Melusine vary, and when it comes to the VMs the variation of appearance can be intentional as seen in the cosmic comparison. The lady-fish image is there. It can either be interpreted according to a mythology that was traditional through much of the 1400s or it's just a generic 'pond scene' with no further significance. The problem is that we don't live in the time that the VMs was made (assuming that it is 'authentic'), so we don't see things from that perspective.
A similar situation with the VMs critter of f 80v. All knds of speculation, everything from armadillo to Golden Fleece along with several other possibilities not in between. The key, IMO, is the nebuly line. The identification of the nebuly line and the recognition that it can represent a cosmic boundary is a major step in making the identification. What possible critter would be associated with a cosmic boundary? That would be the Agnus Dei. That was where JKP was working, posting a number of images, one of which had the unusual quality of having an uncommon structure where the lamb and the blood are on opposite sides of a cosmic boundary. And also that the cosmic boundary consisted of a vesica piscis constructed from a cloud-band. This is only hinted at in the VMs illustration, but that's just it. The VMs only provides hints. If the reader can't use the hint, the hidden narrative remains closed, heraldic canting sits undiscovered. The particular manuscript with the Agnus Dei (BNF Fr. 13096) was in the library of Philip the Good, and this just clicks with the Golden Fleece, long suggested by others.
As I see it, Melusine is a strong hint in the tradition of the time. Although strong and not too hard to find, it is not that specific for time or place. The VMs hints for the Agnus Dei have been clearly disguised. It's more difficult to discover and it is also more specific in regard to historical time and place. Combined with the cosmos and the zodiac, this is further confirmation of deception. White Aries is pure deception. There is no denying the possibility of dual interpretation.
Tradition is the hidden pathway. Without the depths of tradition (verifiable historical tradition) there is no structure. There is no historical grounding. There is no relating to a known reality. Appearance is unreliable. The VMs has been constructed such that appearance is not reliable and the truth must be found according to religious law. So we are possibly now able to recover certain parts of what would appear to be the VMs creator's innate cultural traditions, and this points to a person or persons familiar with libraries and historical events leading up to those of the mid-1430s, from Paris and Berry and then to Burgundy. The VMs creator has used these disguised elements which combine to establish historical grounding for those who can follow the hidden pathway of tradition