VMs f75r - Nymph Holding Spurtle

[Barbrey]

One thing that's always fascinated me is the male figure right underneath the one holding the spike. The Voynich artist  - struggling with poses as they were - went out of their way here to make this figure's hand/wrist overlap in front of the body. Nude male, legs obscured, hands crossed at the wrist, spike nearby... that's one of the most common poses for the Man of Sorrows.

Under my modest point of view, he/she seems to be scrubbing his/her forearm in a river.

No worries, we can all only interpret from our own points of view. Koen, for instance, often finds religious iconography because he’s well versed in medieval art. I myself come from a more alchemical pov, whereby in alchemy at this point of time, Christ was also portrayed as the rebis, the divine androgyne, and thus he is often aligned with the story of Hermaphroditus. I’ve already done an interpretation of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. as the Ovidian story of Hermaphroditus. Because of alchemy’s conflation of Christ/Hermaphroditus, the presence in the bottom image of two spikes in a log with its crucifixion symbolism actually fits perfectly. So when Koen draws our attention to that very iconic Christ pose with the spike above, it actually supports my interpretation while doing nothing to diminish his own in its broader context. 

Moreover, Koen’s especially, but also myself have found many unexpected Christian references in the balneological and rosettes pages. So I’m looking t not just the one pose with a spike, but a growing pattern. Maybe it will Kaiser Sose, but I like it!