19-11-2016, 02:56 AM
I was about to ask about those three trays, intriguing isn't it.
Apart from the general feel that you describe, I was surprised to see a chariot drawn so clearly as a bucket. Might the VM nymph barrels be meant to evoke chariots of the stars, wheeling around the pole? And does the pattern say something about the supposed character of the star?
These manuscripts are tricky though. Their imagery is of an unquestionable antiquity. Some aspects of their imagery are not understood by experts since so many ancient sources have been lost. But at the same time they have been copied and reinterpreted by medieval scribes.
One of my favourite examples, there's a similar ms where Virgo looks like Hitler holding a sword. These are the wonders you get when scribes make copies of copies of things that are too old for them to understand.
Apart from the general feel that you describe, I was surprised to see a chariot drawn so clearly as a bucket. Might the VM nymph barrels be meant to evoke chariots of the stars, wheeling around the pole? And does the pattern say something about the supposed character of the star?
These manuscripts are tricky though. Their imagery is of an unquestionable antiquity. Some aspects of their imagery are not understood by experts since so many ancient sources have been lost. But at the same time they have been copied and reinterpreted by medieval scribes.
One of my favourite examples, there's a similar ms where Virgo looks like Hitler holding a sword. These are the wonders you get when scribes make copies of copies of things that are too old for them to understand.