Some thoughts.
I think you are right in pointing out that there seems to be an overlap in themes. You see that there is more going on in these pages than just bathing ladies: at times we see hints of narrative or symbolic content. But to make it all "work", that's something else. This is the same thing I experienced with the Philomela story of f80r. The spindle as an attribute, the hands "bound" behind the back, the figure with a red-striped piece of fabric before the queen. So these elements are there, that align to a seemingly high degree with a narrative known in the Middle Ages.
And then, what I usually did, was try to make as much as possible fit. In retrospect, I think this is where it goes wrong, and the strength of the argument is undermined. Today I would say: point out what fits, but also point out what doesn't fit with equal enthusiasm. It's not our job to make it all work. This awkward "theory squeezing" (which, again, I have also engaged in), is keeping us from ever fully understanding the thought process that may have gone into these images.
Some examples:
I think you are right in pointing out that there seems to be an overlap in themes. You see that there is more going on in these pages than just bathing ladies: at times we see hints of narrative or symbolic content. But to make it all "work", that's something else. This is the same thing I experienced with the Philomela story of f80r. The spindle as an attribute, the hands "bound" behind the back, the figure with a red-striped piece of fabric before the queen. So these elements are there, that align to a seemingly high degree with a narrative known in the Middle Ages.
And then, what I usually did, was try to make as much as possible fit. In retrospect, I think this is where it goes wrong, and the strength of the argument is undermined. Today I would say: point out what fits, but also point out what doesn't fit with equal enthusiasm. It's not our job to make it all work. This awkward "theory squeezing" (which, again, I have also engaged in), is keeping us from ever fully understanding the thought process that may have gone into these images.
Some examples:
- Always be aware that whatever is happening cannot be a straightforward illustration. The figures in the pools do not behave like your average Balneis bather. But the figures in our stories don't spend the entire narrative naked in the pool. So whatever we're looking at must be layered, some kind of metaphor or synthesis.
- One thing we always run into with these narratives is that there is no consistency of character. Everyone is a nude female, including figures we'd like to be male. The appearance of "characters" may change a lot from one scene to the next. In your folio, we see the unusual case of several smaller than average nymphs compared to larger "queens", but the queens change appearance. If the blue hair is a veil, then this should iconographically be Mary, but she's the one inserting her finger in the ring. Is Catherine one of the small nymphs? It doesn't really work like this. But then why are there so many small nymphs in this pool?
- In trying to explain the robust lady, you selected a baroque painting. It doesn't take an art history major to see what's the problem there.
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