24-12-2025, 09:53 AM
I listened to your talk at Voynich Day this summer. I found some things interesting, but I noticed that you downplayed the Voynich imagery, focusing instead on the script and its authorship. That's the traditional approach in research.
I maintain an opposite approach and believe that what interested the author or authors was above all to exhibit a powerful imagination through the images. They drew and painted the images first because the message they wanted to convey was contained within them. No medieval codex with that fascinating succession of images has survived.
What does this wondrous imagery tell us? For me it's clear: it shows the power of the stars, of celestial influences on Earth; in this codex, the influence on healing herbs.
And what role does the script play? For me, it only accompanies the images, reinforcing them because it is nothing more than groupings of astronomical symbols. For a man with a solid scientific background like yours, this might seem absurd. But consider that approaches like yours—that the script might conceal an Eastern language—seem equally absurd to me when faced with a codex as European as the Voynich.
I believe that when we investigate the Voynich Manuscript, we must look for coherence among all its parts. And we must remember that medieval people also had their own internal logic.
I maintain an opposite approach and believe that what interested the author or authors was above all to exhibit a powerful imagination through the images. They drew and painted the images first because the message they wanted to convey was contained within them. No medieval codex with that fascinating succession of images has survived.
What does this wondrous imagery tell us? For me it's clear: it shows the power of the stars, of celestial influences on Earth; in this codex, the influence on healing herbs.
And what role does the script play? For me, it only accompanies the images, reinforcing them because it is nothing more than groupings of astronomical symbols. For a man with a solid scientific background like yours, this might seem absurd. But consider that approaches like yours—that the script might conceal an Eastern language—seem equally absurd to me when faced with a codex as European as the Voynich.
I believe that when we investigate the Voynich Manuscript, we must look for coherence among all its parts. And we must remember that medieval people also had their own internal logic.