I am not convinced by the provenance history of the VMS

[Jorge_Stolfi]

Microcosm-macrocosm thinking was widespread back then. And it wouldn’t be unusual to “see” angels and animals as symbols of certain forces and “energies” in plants. And it’s common for people to describe what they see using terms they’re familiar with.

But that argument works both ways.  If we are allowed to consider some parts of a figure mere "decoration" added for "familarity", how can we tell which parts are the actual contents?  

I would rather believe that the  four angels and the Moon are the actual contents of f86v4, and the rings of "cells" are just decoration...

And on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. I woudl say that the actual contents is just "there is a thing that is periodic or circular, which is divided into 16 parts, each divided into 3 parts, with 24 of those 48 parts having some phrase associated to them". The "cups" around the periphery and the radial lines are meant only to visualize those divisions. (Except that the Scribe goofed and drew only 45 sectors instead of 48, and 22 labeled radial lines instead of 24)

And the fact that he tried to place the plants within the context of astrology is also entirely understandable, in line with the microcosm-macrocosm way of thinking.

Indeed in Europe at the time, and for several centuries after that, astrology was believed to be connected to medicine and therefore to medicinal plants.  Culpeper's famous herbal is an example of the latter.  Thus it would not be strange at all if the VMS made those connections.

However, AFAIK there is not a single shred of evidence for such a connection.  There is not a single detail in the Herbal, Pharma, and Bio sections that suggests Astrology or Astronomy.  Conversely, in the Astro/Cosmo and Zodiac pages there is not a single detail that points to medicine or herbs. 

In fact, AFAIK there is not a shred of evidence of connections between the major sections -- Herbal+Pharma, Astro+Cosmo+Zodiac, Bio, and Starred Parags -- other than the script and the language (or encryption, if you will).  The VMS, like many other manuscripts of that time, may well be four or more totally separate books, written by different authors in different places and epochs.

All the best, --stolfi