I would like to stress the following:
- When I asked the curator about the VM feline, I did not "steer" her answer towards this result. I did not mention the area nor time of this mosaic.
- She did not study the MS elaborately. This was a spontaneous association based on her first observation of the VM feline.
- She did not propose a complete stylistic match between both items, but still found the stylistic similarities relevant.
- She did not propose that the VM feline was actually based on griffin images, and did not mention the tongue resembling the beak. Her proposing this image was merely based on stylistics, not content matter. However, Sam and I, being more acquainted with the way the VM handles imagery, do not exclude the possibility of a subject link as well. But once again, the curator was just talking stylistics.
I still think Sam's Qasr mosaic offers the best visual parallel for the subject matter. The very widespread "tree behind animal" motif is very likely to have caused the current appearance of the "tail".
However, when it comes to mere stylistics, the griffin mosaic comes very close to the VM. Either way, a lot closer than any real heraldic Leo I have seen.
Apart from all that, I can't understand how you are "hard pressed to see a resemblance between the beak and outstretched tongue". They look the same and would need very little adjustment to be exactly the same.... Just compare it to the tongues on standard Leos and you'll see how similar they are.
As a final note, it is important to know that Diane has written about both the relevance of the "tree behind animal" motif and the relevance of Syrian art in analyzing the month emblems stylistics. This is a very important instance of confirmation, since the curator was not aware of anyone having mentioned Syria before in this context.
- When I asked the curator about the VM feline, I did not "steer" her answer towards this result. I did not mention the area nor time of this mosaic.
- She did not study the MS elaborately. This was a spontaneous association based on her first observation of the VM feline.
- She did not propose a complete stylistic match between both items, but still found the stylistic similarities relevant.
- She did not propose that the VM feline was actually based on griffin images, and did not mention the tongue resembling the beak. Her proposing this image was merely based on stylistics, not content matter. However, Sam and I, being more acquainted with the way the VM handles imagery, do not exclude the possibility of a subject link as well. But once again, the curator was just talking stylistics.
I still think Sam's Qasr mosaic offers the best visual parallel for the subject matter. The very widespread "tree behind animal" motif is very likely to have caused the current appearance of the "tail".
However, when it comes to mere stylistics, the griffin mosaic comes very close to the VM. Either way, a lot closer than any real heraldic Leo I have seen.
Apart from all that, I can't understand how you are "hard pressed to see a resemblance between the beak and outstretched tongue". They look the same and would need very little adjustment to be exactly the same.... Just compare it to the tongues on standard Leos and you'll see how similar they are.
As a final note, it is important to know that Diane has written about both the relevance of the "tree behind animal" motif and the relevance of Syrian art in analyzing the month emblems stylistics. This is a very important instance of confirmation, since the curator was not aware of anyone having mentioned Syria before in this context.