21-12-2025, 01:06 PM
A thread has been opened speculating that the female reproductive system, or part of it, may be represented in Quire 13. It is not the first time I have read or heard this, which for me is the biggest misinterpretation of the Voynich imagery. I understand it's easy to fall into that trap, as well as the trap of believing in a balneological section. Our eyes seem to show us something obvious, but then: why didn't one of the leading authorities on iconography, like Erwin Panofsky, see anything related to the woman?
Panofsky held the codex in his hands, clearly saw the hundreds of female figures, which allowed him to make some observations about the date and style, but nevertheless, for him, there is nothing related to women in the content of the document. I think this is a good example of what differentiates the perspective of an expert from that of someone who is not.
I was confused too until I let myself be guided by the opinion of someone who knew how to interpret images from the past. Panofsky spoke of celestial influences, astral radiation, spirits that transmit the occult powers of the stars. He didn't explicitly mention the female figures, but it's clear he was referring to them. More specifically, I believe each of the figures we see represents a fixed star of the zodiac.
I think we can all agree that the female figures we see on the zodiac pages are the same ones we see on Quire 13 and therefore represent the same thing. On the zodiac wheels, we see each figure holding a star, which is already a powerful clue, but the zodiac signs are constellations of stars, an obvious fact that seems to be forgotten. Even in some zodiac signs we see female figures in tubes, tubes that we later see in Quire 13 and also on the Rosettes page, because the entire codex is interconnected. These tubes serve to channel the influence of each of the stars.
In Quire 13 we see how the female figures descend from those structures of wavy lines and sometimes pineapple-shaped forms that allude to the sphere of stars of the medieval cosmos. We see the colors green and blue alternating or mixing as a clear symbol of their celestial origin on the one hand, and their influence on the plant world on the other. We see some of the female figures with spindles, a clear allusion to their role in weaving the cyclical nature of time. Others wear jeweled rings alluding to their brilliance, or crowns alluding to their greater luminous power.
Panofsky held the codex in his hands, clearly saw the hundreds of female figures, which allowed him to make some observations about the date and style, but nevertheless, for him, there is nothing related to women in the content of the document. I think this is a good example of what differentiates the perspective of an expert from that of someone who is not.
I was confused too until I let myself be guided by the opinion of someone who knew how to interpret images from the past. Panofsky spoke of celestial influences, astral radiation, spirits that transmit the occult powers of the stars. He didn't explicitly mention the female figures, but it's clear he was referring to them. More specifically, I believe each of the figures we see represents a fixed star of the zodiac.
I think we can all agree that the female figures we see on the zodiac pages are the same ones we see on Quire 13 and therefore represent the same thing. On the zodiac wheels, we see each figure holding a star, which is already a powerful clue, but the zodiac signs are constellations of stars, an obvious fact that seems to be forgotten. Even in some zodiac signs we see female figures in tubes, tubes that we later see in Quire 13 and also on the Rosettes page, because the entire codex is interconnected. These tubes serve to channel the influence of each of the stars.
In Quire 13 we see how the female figures descend from those structures of wavy lines and sometimes pineapple-shaped forms that allude to the sphere of stars of the medieval cosmos. We see the colors green and blue alternating or mixing as a clear symbol of their celestial origin on the one hand, and their influence on the plant world on the other. We see some of the female figures with spindles, a clear allusion to their role in weaving the cyclical nature of time. Others wear jeweled rings alluding to their brilliance, or crowns alluding to their greater luminous power.