No text, but a visual code

[Antonio García Jiménez]

If we look closely at Quire 13 it is easy to notice that, except for the pages where the female figures are inside tubes, on the rest of the pages, or on a majority of them, the figures appear to be in motion. We see it in f78r, f78v, f81r, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and f84r.

   In f78v, nine female figures march in order, one behind the other, even placing their hands on the shoulder of the figure in front of them. In f81r, the figures march in the two pools on the page, and in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. they form two rows in the same pool. It's hard to imagine these women taking a pleasure bath or playing around. It seems more like they're following a plan.

   In f84r, in the middle pool, the female figures march in the same direction, and, curiously, two of them are looking in opposite directions because they are turning around to follow the line. The first in line crouches down in front of the mouth of a pipe, as if she wanted to go inside. And that is what the authors want to convey: that they are the fluid that flows through the pipes.

   This idea is best expressed graphically in f78r. In the upper pool, the female figures have fallen from the tubes of the structures representing the sphere of fixed stars. Three of them are lying almost on top of each other due to the fall. In the lower pool, they regain their walking position.

    All of this may seem childish, but it is the way in which the most abstract ideas were expressed in medieval times.