The Voynich Manuscript as an Iberian-African Voyage Record

[R. Sale]

The VMs 'critter' has had a number of potential interpretations and pangolin has certainly been one of them. There are, however, several problems with that identification. First, it is generally considered that the scales are on backwards and the long, flat tail is missing, *if* it is a pangolin.

More importantly, in addition to the 'critter' itself, there are two other artistic elements directly beneath it. The first of these is a nebuly line. As demonstrated in the VMs cosmos, the VMs artist knew the standard, medieval use of a nebuly line as a wolkenband (cloud band) and as a cosmic boundary, often found in religious imagery as a separation between the mundane and the divine. Why would a pangolin be associated with a cosmic boundary and what are all the little dashed markings below the nebuly line?

The answer is found in BNF Fr. 13096 f. 18. The critter associated with a cosmic boundary is the Agnus Dei and the dashed markings are the droplets of blood. Furthermore, the structural sequence with the lamb on one side of the cosmic boundary and the droplets of blood on the other side has only been shown in this historical illustration. Although produced in 1313, provenance indicates this manuscript was later in the library of the Dukes of Burgundy.