21-08-2016, 05:20 PM
Well, hopefully, the *ultimate* purpose is to make better sense of the VMs and what it contains. In the short run, the purpose of pairing is to establish a paradigm that will serve as an investigative theme that can be followed and verified by the discovery of additional, new examples. After going through the medallions, pairing shifts to a second phase as demonstrated by the four figures and the tub patterns at the top of VMs Pisces outer ring. Here there is a complex of pairs: striped and dotted tub patters, male and female occupants. After that the level of difficulty goes up a notch. Like Aries and Taurus, not all pairs are on the same page. The papelonny pattern on Pisces is repeated on Dark Aries.
Another aspect of the investigation of tub patterns is whether these designs correspond with similar patterns coming from other sources. Some have suggested pottery from Islamic sources in Spain as a possibility. And clearly there are patterns with alternating stripes to be found. However, heraldry not only has the vertical and horizontal stripes seen in pottery. Heraldry has the chevrons, the concentric circles and the scale-like patterns found in the VMs. And heraldry has its own terminology to name these patterns.
It is, then, the combination of pairing and heraldry that reveals the hidden, historical identifications found on VMs White Aries. A number of other elements in the illustration help to confirm the identification. Not only does this demonstrate a historical grounding in the VMs illustrations, but it is one that is uniquely based of a two-to-two correspondence.
Does this give a solution to the VMs? Clearly not. However it is (IMHO) the most significant investigative opening based on a functional set of integrated data provided by the VMs illustrations. Nevertheless, significant, even critical, information may have been placed on pages now missing from the manuscript. But we won't know if we don't give it a shot.
Another aspect of the investigation of tub patterns is whether these designs correspond with similar patterns coming from other sources. Some have suggested pottery from Islamic sources in Spain as a possibility. And clearly there are patterns with alternating stripes to be found. However, heraldry not only has the vertical and horizontal stripes seen in pottery. Heraldry has the chevrons, the concentric circles and the scale-like patterns found in the VMs. And heraldry has its own terminology to name these patterns.
It is, then, the combination of pairing and heraldry that reveals the hidden, historical identifications found on VMs White Aries. A number of other elements in the illustration help to confirm the identification. Not only does this demonstrate a historical grounding in the VMs illustrations, but it is one that is uniquely based of a two-to-two correspondence.
Does this give a solution to the VMs? Clearly not. However it is (IMHO) the most significant investigative opening based on a functional set of integrated data provided by the VMs illustrations. Nevertheless, significant, even critical, information may have been placed on pages now missing from the manuscript. But we won't know if we don't give it a shot.