VMs f75r - Nymph Holding Spurtle

[Jorge_Stolfi]

It seems clear to me that the VM artist(s) borrowed from that imagery.

Surprised that you say that, Koen.  I have always understood the consensus to be that the lack of religious imagery (not just Christian, but of any recognizable religion) was one of the notable features of the VMS. 

There is indeed a cross on f79v, but it does not connect to anything else.  So the shape may be a coincidence, or the cross may have been some other object, or the whole cross was added at a later time (like the crowns in the Zodiac).  What was it supposed to mean, that the nymph was a nun, indulging in a public bath? A female priest of some bizarre Christian esoteric sect? 

The figure (including the hand shape) would make perfect sense without the cross.

(And of course there is clear evidence of retracing all over the page, e.g. on the thigh and buttocks of that nymph.)

All the best, --jorge