29-11-2025, 01:13 PM
I think there are near-exact copies in some places, most obviously the Zodiac figures. The appearance of the animals as well as the human figures betrays either strong familiarity with examples (i.e. regular contact with them) and/or direct access to examples.
It's made more tricky since only a minority of copies is exact. The rule is that they tweak some things like clothing, misinterpret some details, make some stylistic alterations...
Anyway, my personal view is that the VM artist must have had access to a number of common books (like Hausbuchs) and perhaps some less common herbal illustrations for reference. I also don't think the star charts can be entirely improvised. So I'd lean in the direction of various sources, maybe access to a library of sorts.
It's made more tricky since only a minority of copies is exact. The rule is that they tweak some things like clothing, misinterpret some details, make some stylistic alterations...
Anyway, my personal view is that the VM artist must have had access to a number of common books (like Hausbuchs) and perhaps some less common herbal illustrations for reference. I also don't think the star charts can be entirely improvised. So I'd lean in the direction of various sources, maybe access to a library of sorts.