(08-11-2021, 12:29 AM)R. Sale wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I've long felt that the VMs 'green' bathers had a certain similarity to the bathing Muses in Pizan's 'Book of the Queen'.
Do you mean the depiction of the muses in Harley MS 4431, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. ? What I find remarkable is that although the women are depicted naked, certain positive qualities are attributed to them in their appearance. In an edition of the text it says:
....
What you will hear me describe:
There I saw nine ladies who had come.
Bathing naked
In the Fountain of Truth
They looked like they had a lot of dignity,
Great prestige and great sense.
I would have liked so much to have learned and discovered
Who they were;....
Perhaps the attribution of these qualities to nude bathers is more to be expected from a woman than from a man ? I'm not sure.
What is provable is that the whole scene is depicted completely differently in the work of a male author and some years later ( You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. ). Here the muses stand dressed in front of the fountain ( thanks R. Sale for the link in another thread ).
I don't know if the qualities described above also apply to "the bathers" in the VMS, but at least they exude a certain naturalness in their presentation.