The Rosettes Page - March 2024

[Mark Knowles]

That does not mean that we must ignore art history and let our imagination run free.

I think the drawings are mostly based on real life observation. I don't think they were copied from other drawings. I believe the author had seen other map(s) of the period, so I think the overall style of map representation is influenced by other forms of map representation that the author had seen, but I don't think the drawings of buildings were copied from other manuscripts, but more so from the authors direct observation of those buildings. I think the author had seen the castle and was drawing from his eyesight not from having copied a drawing of the castle from another manuscript. Why need to copy the buildings from other manuscripts when he could copy from direct experience? I guess that is why I have shyed away from a very art history approach that is heavily involved in comparison with other manuscripts and why I have focused more on photos of real buildings when studying this specific page. Nevertheless I have made considerable study of maps of the period and consulted a world expert, Professor Paul Harvey author of the definitive text "Medieval Maps".