When stories get conflated, things can get real messy. The best apparent connection to the VMs mermaid remains as the illustration from Harley 334, both of which feature a half-woman, half-(or more)-fish-like creature and four other creature companions. The text in Harley 334 does little to identify the mermaid creature. And a similar situation can be found in the two Lauber illustrations for 'Fish' and for 'Sea Monsters,' both depicting a mermaid. She is not a 'particular' mermaid, she is just *a mermaid*.
Harley 334 is significant because it is also part of the VMs cosmic comparison with BNF Fr. 565.
The difference between mermaids and Melusine(s) is the backstory. Mermaids don't have one. They are as generic as fish. Melusine is different. She has a personality. She was a mythological individual, like a Greek or Roman goddess. There were two different cultural variations of the Melusine story that seem most relevant, the version of Lusignan and the one from Luxembourg.
Closer examination of the VMs illustration reveals that this "mermaid" is not a real mermaid. Mermaids don't have thighs. Mermaids don't change into fully human form. [Not in the 1400s.] Melusine changes every week - in her bath. In Lusignan she's a dragon, but in Luxembourg she was partly like a fish, like a mermaid. The Valois descendants of Bonne of Luxembourg claimed ancestral connections to mythical Melusine. Jean, Duke of Berry, promoted Jean d'Arras' publication of the story of Melusine of Lusignan for his sister, and he was the holder of the Lusignan castle.
The Duke of Berry and his daughter, thrice married Marie, Duchess of Auvergne, were the owners of BNF Fr. 565, which is of primary (43) significance to the cosmic comparison - till her death in 1434.
If someone thinks that the VMs artistry is simple and unsophisticated, perhaps they should look again. In the VMs cosmos, changing the Earth from pictorial to linguistic is a code shift. Putting Melusine in place of a generic mermaid is transposition. Constructing illustrations with ambiguous interpretations like VMs White Aries is the creation of duality. Even more than deception and trickery, the VMs artist provided a paired pathway to somewhere. The presence of the pathway is as clear as the connection of Stolfi's marker and the tub with blue stripes on VMS White Aries. Beware the papellony cant.
Harley 334 is significant because it is also part of the VMs cosmic comparison with BNF Fr. 565.
The difference between mermaids and Melusine(s) is the backstory. Mermaids don't have one. They are as generic as fish. Melusine is different. She has a personality. She was a mythological individual, like a Greek or Roman goddess. There were two different cultural variations of the Melusine story that seem most relevant, the version of Lusignan and the one from Luxembourg.
Closer examination of the VMs illustration reveals that this "mermaid" is not a real mermaid. Mermaids don't have thighs. Mermaids don't change into fully human form. [Not in the 1400s.] Melusine changes every week - in her bath. In Lusignan she's a dragon, but in Luxembourg she was partly like a fish, like a mermaid. The Valois descendants of Bonne of Luxembourg claimed ancestral connections to mythical Melusine. Jean, Duke of Berry, promoted Jean d'Arras' publication of the story of Melusine of Lusignan for his sister, and he was the holder of the Lusignan castle.
The Duke of Berry and his daughter, thrice married Marie, Duchess of Auvergne, were the owners of BNF Fr. 565, which is of primary (43) significance to the cosmic comparison - till her death in 1434.
If someone thinks that the VMs artistry is simple and unsophisticated, perhaps they should look again. In the VMs cosmos, changing the Earth from pictorial to linguistic is a code shift. Putting Melusine in place of a generic mermaid is transposition. Constructing illustrations with ambiguous interpretations like VMs White Aries is the creation of duality. Even more than deception and trickery, the VMs artist provided a paired pathway to somewhere. The presence of the pathway is as clear as the connection of Stolfi's marker and the tub with blue stripes on VMS White Aries. Beware the papellony cant.