England is a bit outside the box, but it is another example of earlier sources having a fuller personification of the sun and moon. A representation of a person with a head, arms and shoulders, not just a face as in the examples more contemporary to VMs C-14. The early examples are Biblical, frequently representations of the Crucifixion. But in the Lauber Bibles, the sun and moon show up as just faces at Creation and are absent at the Crucifixion.
Celestial faces also occur in astronomical / astrological illustrations and rarely just there in the sky. The VMs faces are part of the cosmic section, plus the later sun and moon. [f85r2-f86v6] VMs celestial faces are seen as solar, lunar or other interpretations rather than being used in a standard religious representation.
The distinctive factor for the two VMs illustrations is still the representation of the headbands. First because there are so few examples of headbands in general artistic representations (re: C-14), and then because the combination of headbands and celestial faces adds another level of complications.
The Bernese Apollo demonstrates the same combination found in the VMs, a solar "head" wearing a headband, preferably a fillet. It seems an unlikely source of influence on the VMs artist. I agree that the representation of headbands seems to have a classical connection, but I wonder how the representations were transmitted when there are so few examples of the combination.
Celestial faces also occur in astronomical / astrological illustrations and rarely just there in the sky. The VMs faces are part of the cosmic section, plus the later sun and moon. [f85r2-f86v6] VMs celestial faces are seen as solar, lunar or other interpretations rather than being used in a standard religious representation.
The distinctive factor for the two VMs illustrations is still the representation of the headbands. First because there are so few examples of headbands in general artistic representations (re: C-14), and then because the combination of headbands and celestial faces adds another level of complications.
The Bernese Apollo demonstrates the same combination found in the VMs, a solar "head" wearing a headband, preferably a fillet. It seems an unlikely source of influence on the VMs artist. I agree that the representation of headbands seems to have a classical connection, but I wonder how the representations were transmitted when there are so few examples of the combination.