[split] Voynich-like plants in Firenze Riccardiana Ricc. 2174

[Koen G]

The hypothesis that blue was used for shading is certainly interesting. Can we compile a list of herbals that use this technique?


A quick look shows the alternating blue-white pattern can only be found in scribes 1 and 2. Arguably, the sample size of scribes 3 and  is much smaller though.

I think a larger review of shading techniques might be very useful here. It would certainly take some time and dedicated effort though. For me it would have to be on the "look into this later" list, since I first need to finish my Q&A videos and presentation for VMD. 

It goes beyond blue-white though. Comparing this manuscript to the Voynich paint job can teach us a lot about what they are actually trying to do. Just look at the red lines here. It's not sloppy, it's just shading!

   

When it comes to paint differences between Herbal A and Herbal B, I have not been able to find anything other than the lack of red for B. It is quite possible that the MS, in its original order, was painted by the same person who ran out of (sufficient) red paint at some point.