Hi Barbrey,
Aw, sorry, I have been reading some of my old stuff so I know what you mean, sometimes the clarity is lacking, and issues with images don't help at all. Let's see if I can do a more succinct job of it here.
The idea is that the 4 figures are North(the North Sea) East(the Black Sea) South(the mid Meditterranean Sea, Tyrrhanean and Adriatic basically) and West(the Gibraltar Strait, implying the Atlantic Ocean) with north at the left, which is pretty normal, East up was common before 1400.
Each has traits that make them the embodiment of the seas I mentioned, although one is mirrored and almost all are at 45 degree angles for some bizarre reason. I think it might be because they knew in the future I would have trouble with graphics on a tablet. Haha
I tried to put the graphics side by side with some extras but you kinda have to tilt things to get the idea until I can do a better job of doing some collages with things turned the right way to compare. So I could see how that would not work out on a phone.
Then, it turned out the Black Sea embodiment also embodied a larger portion of the Mediterranean Sea upside down, starting from the West to the Adriatic, and the Adriatic is about another Black Sea length away from the Black Sea.
So that laid out the idea that if you had 4 panels, the Black Sea would be in the fourth, Venice would be at the right edge of the third, and you could fill in the rest from there.
Then I accidentally went to the first post in this thread and saw a photo of the Catalan Atlas, which was serendipitous because there was the Black Sea in the fourth panel as predicted by what I saw in that tiny little guy at the top of the page.
So my confirmation bias is at 100% right now but it would be nice if someone else could see it too. The likenesses are not 100% but I find them to be pretty darn good given that most portolan charts don't show the North Sea realistically at all.
Lemme see if I can do a few quick collages without having to do the 45 degree thing.
Here is the North Sea comparison, still have to kinda look at the vms pic from lower right corner to put the arms in the right places.
The Stolfi marker is the double line just below. It tells you where to start reading the text. I think the double line extends into the blue, marking the bay where it says Netherlands on the map.
If you then look at the breast area, and slightly below it becomes an innie instead of outtie, that looks like where it says Strait of Dover on the map, and the bay above it.
The English Channel arm has triangles drawn on it that match bumps in the shoreline that you can still see on the map edge. The triangles are better seen with higher definition.
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This one is West. Hoping it is a little more self evident, although again it isn't perfect. At least the 45 degree angle is taken care of already.
This one is South. Mirror image at 45 degrees only up to the shoulders with invisible chalice and hair smooshed onto forehead, but again hoping it is basically self evident.
This one is East. Straight comparison. River Danube on the left about 3/4 up is fat because upside down it is the Adriatic, or the arm of South. You can kinda see a mini version of South, upside down. The triangles on the other arm look like a mini Gibraltar Strait. His face looks like the first leg of the Dnieper river, I would have to add more pics for that, this pic it just goes to his nose. Same for the upside down bit. Will see what I can do tomorrow.
Aw, sorry, I have been reading some of my old stuff so I know what you mean, sometimes the clarity is lacking, and issues with images don't help at all. Let's see if I can do a more succinct job of it here.
The idea is that the 4 figures are North(the North Sea) East(the Black Sea) South(the mid Meditterranean Sea, Tyrrhanean and Adriatic basically) and West(the Gibraltar Strait, implying the Atlantic Ocean) with north at the left, which is pretty normal, East up was common before 1400.
Each has traits that make them the embodiment of the seas I mentioned, although one is mirrored and almost all are at 45 degree angles for some bizarre reason. I think it might be because they knew in the future I would have trouble with graphics on a tablet. Haha
I tried to put the graphics side by side with some extras but you kinda have to tilt things to get the idea until I can do a better job of doing some collages with things turned the right way to compare. So I could see how that would not work out on a phone.
Then, it turned out the Black Sea embodiment also embodied a larger portion of the Mediterranean Sea upside down, starting from the West to the Adriatic, and the Adriatic is about another Black Sea length away from the Black Sea.
So that laid out the idea that if you had 4 panels, the Black Sea would be in the fourth, Venice would be at the right edge of the third, and you could fill in the rest from there.
Then I accidentally went to the first post in this thread and saw a photo of the Catalan Atlas, which was serendipitous because there was the Black Sea in the fourth panel as predicted by what I saw in that tiny little guy at the top of the page.
So my confirmation bias is at 100% right now but it would be nice if someone else could see it too. The likenesses are not 100% but I find them to be pretty darn good given that most portolan charts don't show the North Sea realistically at all.
Lemme see if I can do a few quick collages without having to do the 45 degree thing.
Here is the North Sea comparison, still have to kinda look at the vms pic from lower right corner to put the arms in the right places.
The Stolfi marker is the double line just below. It tells you where to start reading the text. I think the double line extends into the blue, marking the bay where it says Netherlands on the map.
If you then look at the breast area, and slightly below it becomes an innie instead of outtie, that looks like where it says Strait of Dover on the map, and the bay above it.
The English Channel arm has triangles drawn on it that match bumps in the shoreline that you can still see on the map edge. The triangles are better seen with higher definition.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
This one is West. Hoping it is a little more self evident, although again it isn't perfect. At least the 45 degree angle is taken care of already.
This one is South. Mirror image at 45 degrees only up to the shoulders with invisible chalice and hair smooshed onto forehead, but again hoping it is basically self evident.
This one is East. Straight comparison. River Danube on the left about 3/4 up is fat because upside down it is the Adriatic, or the arm of South. You can kinda see a mini version of South, upside down. The triangles on the other arm look like a mini Gibraltar Strait. His face looks like the first leg of the Dnieper river, I would have to add more pics for that, this pic it just goes to his nose. Same for the upside down bit. Will see what I can do tomorrow.