No text, but a visual code

[Antonio García Jiménez]

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If I say that these structures in the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. represent the sphere of the fixed stars, many may look at me with disbelief. I will try to argue this. In the Middle Ages and earlier, people looked for known things to represent abstract ideas through a metaphorical procedure. This is what happens with these strange pine-cone-like structures. Medieval people conceived of the place in space where the fixed stars are found as a solid sphere studded with stars. That is, they were attached to the sphere. The familiar representation of this idea is also the wavy line that we see in other illustrations.

The pineapple is covered by a kind of tent roof, an element found in other illustrations of the VM. Its meaning is to indicate the roof of the world. Beyond it was the kingdom of God. Female figures, which are a representation of astral influences, descend through these tubes. The medieval universe was solid like an onion with its layers and the pipes are a representation of their interconnectivity.