14-02-2026, 09:02 AM
It is often said that the Voynich manuscript is much studied, but this is only partially true. The script has been and continues to be extensively studied, but not the imagery. In fact, since Panofsky, that is, for decades, no in-depth and extensive study of the iconography has been undertaken.
I know that partial images have been investigated, such as the castle on the Rosettes page, or the figures of the zodiac signs, and every attempt has been made to identify the herbs, but there is still no general awareness that everything is related, that it is a cohesive document. Indifference towards the images has reached the point where some claim they are merely decorative, when in reality, images were of paramount importance in the Middle Ages, as is the case with the Voynich.
A key element of the manuscript is the boundary of the medieval universe, the sphere where the fixed stars reside. To understand the images, it's necessary to consider how medieval people conceived of this sphere. It can be represented as a ball covered with tacks or holes from which the stars cast their light. In the Voynich manuscript, the sphere of fixed stars is represented by that wavy line that everyone will have seen in countless medieval manuscripts, and also (and this is the original part) by small bumps.
We see these small bumps in f68v3, f70r1, on several pages of Quire 13, in f86v3, f86v4 and of course on the Rosettes pages, which is the most fascinating representation of the medieval universe that History has bequeathed to us.
I know that partial images have been investigated, such as the castle on the Rosettes page, or the figures of the zodiac signs, and every attempt has been made to identify the herbs, but there is still no general awareness that everything is related, that it is a cohesive document. Indifference towards the images has reached the point where some claim they are merely decorative, when in reality, images were of paramount importance in the Middle Ages, as is the case with the Voynich.
A key element of the manuscript is the boundary of the medieval universe, the sphere where the fixed stars reside. To understand the images, it's necessary to consider how medieval people conceived of this sphere. It can be represented as a ball covered with tacks or holes from which the stars cast their light. In the Voynich manuscript, the sphere of fixed stars is represented by that wavy line that everyone will have seen in countless medieval manuscripts, and also (and this is the original part) by small bumps.
We see these small bumps in f68v3, f70r1, on several pages of Quire 13, in f86v3, f86v4 and of course on the Rosettes pages, which is the most fascinating representation of the medieval universe that History has bequeathed to us.