Textual Complexity vs. Visual Simplicity

[Koen G]

Look at the clothes of a well-illustrated manuscript, for example here:
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It is a typical example where the painter uses different shades of the same paint to create a sense of depth. This is a completely normal thing to do in the 15th century, and it is also completely absent in the Voynich MS.

My view remains that the VM painter did, at times, attempt this kind of shading/highlighting. But they did it so poorly that the end result looks messy or bizarre. See You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. for potential attempts at shading in plants.

Another example becomes apparent when comparing the blue dresses in the Zodiac figures to those in the MS you link. The person who colored the VM seems to have been well-aware of such examples and attempted to emulate the style - unsuccessfully.

   

When it comes to the anatomy of the figures, both man and beast, I'd say that the VM is only slightly worse.