21-11-2025, 12:39 AM
I browsed thorugh that thread. What I got out of it is
1) The wolkenband in Medieval imagery is a "hieroglyph": readers are not supposed to see it as the edge of a cloud or cloud bank, because it does not look at all like one. They are supposed to know that this weird wavy line is the standard symbol for "edge of clouds" -- and, metaphorically, for the boundary between Heavens and the Earthly Domains or whatever. Like "$" does not look at all like money, but people are supposed to know that it stands for money.
2) There are two types of wolkenband: the "first-order" one looks like R.Sale's "nebuly" lines. The "second-order" one is a nebuly line with small teeth, bent around in the shape of a nebuly with larger teeth.
3) In the best manuscripts, both are rendered with graded shading or hatching so as to suggest a specific three-dimensional shape that looks sort of like a ruff (frilled collar) seen edge on.
The supposed "wolkenbands" of the VMS are the simplest possible: first-order (simple nebuly lines) rendered as flat curves. There are two exceptions on the six-panel fold-out, in the central and east rosettes, where we see what look like attempts to draw second-order wolkenbands with hints of the 3D shading. Are there other examples?
Moreover, in the Bio section, the things delimited by wolkenbands are often drawn as if they were canopies or pools, with the water pooling on top and dripping along the edges, instead of raining from the underside. On the NW corner of f79v, for instance, the "cloud" has lines radiating from a central "doorknob".
Puzzling, as usual...
All the best, --stolfi
1) The wolkenband in Medieval imagery is a "hieroglyph": readers are not supposed to see it as the edge of a cloud or cloud bank, because it does not look at all like one. They are supposed to know that this weird wavy line is the standard symbol for "edge of clouds" -- and, metaphorically, for the boundary between Heavens and the Earthly Domains or whatever. Like "$" does not look at all like money, but people are supposed to know that it stands for money.
2) There are two types of wolkenband: the "first-order" one looks like R.Sale's "nebuly" lines. The "second-order" one is a nebuly line with small teeth, bent around in the shape of a nebuly with larger teeth.
3) In the best manuscripts, both are rendered with graded shading or hatching so as to suggest a specific three-dimensional shape that looks sort of like a ruff (frilled collar) seen edge on.
The supposed "wolkenbands" of the VMS are the simplest possible: first-order (simple nebuly lines) rendered as flat curves. There are two exceptions on the six-panel fold-out, in the central and east rosettes, where we see what look like attempts to draw second-order wolkenbands with hints of the 3D shading. Are there other examples?
Moreover, in the Bio section, the things delimited by wolkenbands are often drawn as if they were canopies or pools, with the water pooling on top and dripping along the edges, instead of raining from the underside. On the NW corner of f79v, for instance, the "cloud" has lines radiating from a central "doorknob".
Puzzling, as usual...
All the best, --stolfi
![[+]](https://www.voynich.ninja/images/collapse_collapsed.png)