In You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. the characters in the middle ring repeat in a 4x17 pattern, and there are also 4 figures inside the circle. Going around the circle, the faces alternate towards and away from the viewer (towards-away-towards-away). The faces looking away have two outstretched hands and the faces looking towards have one raised hand which appears to be pointing at something.
It seems like an obvious pattern but I haven't seen any discussion on this. Is there any idea on the alternating towards-away faces? Do we know what this is supposed to symbolize? Are there parallels in other medieval scripts?
One interpretation is that the figures are supposed to represent four people in a circle in 3d (imagine children playing a game), but then it should have been towards-towards-away-away, not towards-away-towards-away.
It seems like an obvious pattern but I haven't seen any discussion on this. Is there any idea on the alternating towards-away faces? Do we know what this is supposed to symbolize? Are there parallels in other medieval scripts?
One interpretation is that the figures are supposed to represent four people in a circle in 3d (imagine children playing a game), but then it should have been towards-towards-away-away, not towards-away-towards-away.