21-07-2020, 04:36 PM
(This post was last modified: 22-07-2020, 12:55 AM by RenegadeHealer.
Edit Reason: Image changed to one licensed for reuse
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Very nice find, Wladimir. I'm not quite seeing a specific parallel to the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. root. I do see an artistic similarity in the style, but it's tenuous. I do think we can conclude these faint lines were part of an initial plan for the root of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. that was aborted. A rough initial sketch, maybe. It doesn't look to me like this initial plan produced more than a few lines, though.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. shares a bifolio with f3v just next to it on the left. I'm not sure there's nearly as much question about the original intended order of the Herbal A pages and quires. I'm only pointing out that they share the same side of the same physical sheet of vellum. Seeing as how books were created and commonly kept unbound in medieval times, this leaves open the possibility that these two images could have been conceived, executed, and/or presented together, at some point.
Looking at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. side by side, I could almost see two different life cycles of the poppy plant, namely the middle image with the erupting of flowers from their outer shell (f6r), and the rightmost image of ripe poppy fruits (f3v):
![[Image: File:Illustration_Papaver_somniferum0.jpg]](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Illustration_Papaver_somniferum0.jpg)
This is pretty tenuous too.
But back to the roots. The clearest iconographic parallel I see with the settled-upon design in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., the two snakes entwined around the staff of Hermes a.k.a. Mercury.
Some interesting snippets from the Wikipedia article:
But enough of this. If these roots are Caducei, why are the "snakes" not intertwining at all? And why four sets of them?
One thing is becoming clearer to me, though. The roots in the VMS are drawn very deliberately. And, being unable to unsee the bird of prey from the Habsburg heraldry in the roots of f46v, I'm more and more convinced that the plant parts form a symbolic language unto themselves, and it's not nearly all pareidolia.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. shares a bifolio with f3v just next to it on the left. I'm not sure there's nearly as much question about the original intended order of the Herbal A pages and quires. I'm only pointing out that they share the same side of the same physical sheet of vellum. Seeing as how books were created and commonly kept unbound in medieval times, this leaves open the possibility that these two images could have been conceived, executed, and/or presented together, at some point.
Looking at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. side by side, I could almost see two different life cycles of the poppy plant, namely the middle image with the erupting of flowers from their outer shell (f6r), and the rightmost image of ripe poppy fruits (f3v):
This is pretty tenuous too.
But back to the roots. The clearest iconographic parallel I see with the settled-upon design in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., the two snakes entwined around the staff of Hermes a.k.a. Mercury.
Some interesting snippets from the Wikipedia article:
Quote:In Roman iconography, it was often depicted being carried in the left hand of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., guide of the dead, and protector of merchants, shepherds, gamblers, liars, and thieves.
...
It is said the wand would wake the sleeping and send the awake to sleep. If applied to the dying, their death was gentle; if applied to the dead, they returned to life.
But enough of this. If these roots are Caducei, why are the "snakes" not intertwining at all? And why four sets of them?
One thing is becoming clearer to me, though. The roots in the VMS are drawn very deliberately. And, being unable to unsee the bird of prey from the Habsburg heraldry in the roots of f46v, I'm more and more convinced that the plant parts form a symbolic language unto themselves, and it's not nearly all pareidolia.