f18v...Dioscorides...something about those leaves

[Koen G]

As far as I know, the crossbow Sagittarius is the sign with the clearest geographical correlation, and I don't remember seeing evidence of its French origin.

In addition to what Nablator wrote, I must add that we are of course seeing the final result. Just like fashion, weapons may get updated to reflect contemporary taste and understanding. If we can only look at the weapon, then "German language-area source" is the most logical explanation. But if we also include things like the idle pose (not taking aim), things become more complex.

There are also a number of interesting images on French stained glass windows: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

There is also your study You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., where the earlier examples are French and the more recent German. With all this evidence, I see little reason to doubt that the Zodiac images are based on something that originated in France, but had reached a German-speaking area by the time the VM used it.

Of course, one may wonder to what extent this is relevant at all. Probably not so much, unless knowing the potential transmission of the images may one day help to pin down a likely source.