20-07-2023, 07:27 PM
(This post was last modified: 20-07-2023, 07:29 PM by Bluetoes101.
Edit Reason: I'm an idiot and can't link images correctly
)
Feel like there's a fairly strong argument for 49r being a clove tree, or "Syzygium aromaticum". I do have a much more creative mind than analytical though, so I'm happy to be told I'm barking up the wrong (clove) tree.
The worms in the roots likely represent tooth ache (v common at the time and centuries prior), to which the most common herbal remedy (at time of VM) is primarily cloves. The shape of the clove tree is well known for having a long bare trunk, its leaves and flowers are concentrated at the top giving an "umbrella" look. The flowers have 2 stages of flowering, as depicted in the VM folio.
The "vines" are not a 1 for 1 match, but it would be extremely unlikely for someone to have actually seen a clove tree in person in the early 15th century unless they were from, or frequented Indonesia somehow. They would have access to cloves however via Arab and Indian traders and I don't think it too unlikely the artist took a bit of artistic freedom in regards to deciding how their cloves would attach to the tree they had heard of. And after all, lets face it, if this image was a true to life scientific diagram of a specimen, the flowers would be about 6ft tall each, or we are dealing with a 20cm tall tree here.
I don't think the size/shape of the roots are based on anything real.. you would have probably been killed for digging up a clove tree to have a look at its roots.
Images show the VM folio, various images of the clove tree and flowers. Bottom left is a 1700s image of a clove(s) and right an 1500s image of the spice islands, showing the clove tree. As with anything in the VM, I'm sure this idea can be pulled apart in a multitude of ways, but I hope at the very least this is interesting to think about.
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![[Image: qJ6Zj9z]](https://imgur.com/a/qJ6Zj9z)
The worms in the roots likely represent tooth ache (v common at the time and centuries prior), to which the most common herbal remedy (at time of VM) is primarily cloves. The shape of the clove tree is well known for having a long bare trunk, its leaves and flowers are concentrated at the top giving an "umbrella" look. The flowers have 2 stages of flowering, as depicted in the VM folio.
The "vines" are not a 1 for 1 match, but it would be extremely unlikely for someone to have actually seen a clove tree in person in the early 15th century unless they were from, or frequented Indonesia somehow. They would have access to cloves however via Arab and Indian traders and I don't think it too unlikely the artist took a bit of artistic freedom in regards to deciding how their cloves would attach to the tree they had heard of. And after all, lets face it, if this image was a true to life scientific diagram of a specimen, the flowers would be about 6ft tall each, or we are dealing with a 20cm tall tree here.
I don't think the size/shape of the roots are based on anything real.. you would have probably been killed for digging up a clove tree to have a look at its roots.
Images show the VM folio, various images of the clove tree and flowers. Bottom left is a 1700s image of a clove(s) and right an 1500s image of the spice islands, showing the clove tree. As with anything in the VM, I'm sure this idea can be pulled apart in a multitude of ways, but I hope at the very least this is interesting to think about.
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