Alchemical Symbolism in the VMS

[Barbrey]

Thank you - that’s a nice match. I always think of that one as the “Roman” Bath because of the architectural components. Not on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. by the way. I think I found it on 78v but would have to double check. 

Still, it doesn’t dissuade me from using an alchemical framework. The VMs author wanted viewers to see the nymphs as females in baths. Basing one of the baths possibly on an existing illustration could be part of that goal. Or there might be an added symbolic layer. But for me, the muses, if such theyare would be part of the disguise, not the reveal. 

I’m like you, only more so.  I think the authors are deceptive, sophisticated and with a sense of humour. I love Cornelius Agrippa. Did you ever read, Declamation on the Nobility and Pre-eminence of the Female Sex? Laugh out loud funny. “Oh, ye hairy ones!”  If the VMs had been written a hundred years later he would be my prime suspect, not only because I like man, but because he dabbled in all the areas the text displays, including alchemy, cryptography and language. So I tend to envision someone like him as the author, having a good laugh as he devised this nefarious text designed to drive its readers crazy.