"Propeller" Flower Pods

[Sam G]

I've been calling them "spinner heads" but I like propeller.  

Okay, good to know that I'm not the only person who sees the resemblance.

It's my feeling that there are three basic kinds of drawing in the VMS plant sections (and perhaps some of the other sections)...

• Naturalistic - many of the plant parts are very accurate and carefully (even if not expertly) drawn.
  
• Symbolic - quite a number of parts appear to be mnemonic, or possibly metaphoric or allegorical in a different sense from being memory aids.
  
• Stylistic - some elements strike me not as naturalistic or symbolic but as stylistic, in the aesthetic or design-tradition sense.
  

I suspect that the "propeller" flowers might be somewhat stylized.

I have a similar view.  The illustrations certainly appear to aim for visual realism in some cases, but not in others.

It's been my feeling, almost from the beginning of seeing the VMS, that the illustrator was exposed to a variety of influences and took ideas from here or there as they fit the intended purpose. It's difficult to know which ones are intentional or coincidental when it's a small detail, but I think it's possible the propeller flowers may be partly stylized.


For example, here is a decorative motif to mark the beginning of a new paragraph. It's not unusual, one can find floral decorations in a variety of regions and manuscripts, which means drawings like this could easily have been seen by the illustrator in any number of libraries, scriptoria, or universities during the 15th century. It's not an exact match, but maybe this kind of drawing (morphed with the actual shape of the flower) inspired some of the more stylized elements within the VMS.

Interesting... which manuscript is that from?

I agree that there seem to be different stylistic influences in the VMS botanical illustrations, but one thing about the propellers is that the alternation of color in the petals also resembles patterns that can be seen in leaves and other kinds of flowers in many of the illustrations, suggesting that it's part of a broader aesthetic or stylistic trend in the manuscript rather than an isolated element that has been grafted in.  This kind of alternation of color seems to be very rare in European herbals.