RE: Why does heraldry fail?
R. Sale > 16-11-2016, 09:41 PM
The reason I did not include White Aries in the previous posting is that it is another long and tedious explanation, but, since you ask. The heraldry on White Aries tubs is significantly different from from that of the first two VMs Zodiac pages. On the first two pages there are examples of pattern, but essentially they are without painted coloration. On White Aries it's the opposite. Almost everything is painted. And on many of the tubs there is color but no pattern, (with several obvious exceptions). Heraldry is a combination of color (tincture) and pattern.
The Sanderson insignia has certain, apparent similarities with the tub pattern of this VMs figure, in that both are patterns of alternating, apparently vertical stripes. And in both examples, one set of stripes is blue. The Sanderson example also has a diagonal black band across it, a bend sable, with three gold rings on it, three annulets or. It helps understand the illustrated insignia if you can learn to read their blazons. A blazon is the traditional written description of the insignia.
So, looking at examples with color and pattern, and trying to construct a blazon for the VMs images is one way to further investigate the VMs illustrations. The primary line of investigation, then, turns out to be the two blue-striped patterns on VMs White Aries. But trying to write a blazon for these patterns, runs into immediate difficulties. There are ink patterns and there is blue paint. How can this be interpreted? This is a line of investigation that is complex, interesting and ultimately pointless. The reason for this is that certain choices of interpretation have already been accepted and they lead the investigator in the wrong direction.
When the investigator looks at the White Aries page, it is natural to see all the figures in their radial orientation. That's the way all the characters are presented. And it is natural, consequently, to see the orientation of the stripes on the tubs in line with the radial orientation of the character. HOWEVER, that is not the only possible interpretation of this illustration. If you isolate the two blue striped patterns, if you remove all radial influences and determine the direction of orientation based on the vertical and horizontal of the page itself, you will see a different orientation for these striped patterns. And even though the alignment is not perfect, both of the VMs patterns orient to the dexter diagonal. This alternative interpretation is clearly a secondary interpretation, a hidden interpretation.
Now, for those in possession of the necessary historical detail, things might click into place, especially after you notice the hat, as pictured in Stellar's prior posting. But if not, then nothing is found. The historical details are found in the biographies of the Fieschi popes, Innocent IV and Adrian V.
The Fieschi family blazon is: bendy, argent et azur. Alternating diagonal stripes, literally silver and blue, but silver is white, and white is something not painted. Comparing the simple Fieschi pattern with the VMs examples there are three problematic areas. The first is the direction of orientation. If you see the reality of dual interpretation, then you see the intentional use of ambiguity, an intentional disguise made by the use of an optical illusion. *An intentional disguise.*
The second problem is the combination of paint and ink as noted above. The attempt to find a combined interpretation produces a stalemate. Why is that? If the ink patterns in the lines are intended for interpretation according to the hatching system of tincture designation, or anything vaguely similar, then there is an obvious problem, not with potential interpretation, but a more fundamental problem with use of tincture designation systems. Different systems of tincture designation are *NEVER* used in combination. The solution is not found in the interpretation of combination, but through the rejection of contradiction. And if it's not yet clear which part should be rejected, then give up and go home - or keep on digging.
The problem with disguising and retaining identity in heraldic insignia is that one cannot remove or replace what is essential to identification - however, one can add superfluous elements to cause ambiguity. And the superfluous elements can be recognized, by those who know the rules of heraldry, because they produce a result that the rules do not allow.
Both of these factors are intentional attempts to disguise a hidden identification that would otherwise allow that identification to be much more obvious. And there is a third potential difficulty in the identification, which has to do with the number of lines in the pattern. How many lines should there be? In the Wikipedia biographies, there is also a representation of the Fieschi insignia. And there you will find the current interpretation, which is given the blazon, bendy, argent et azur, in six parts. *In six parts*, meaning three blue stripes and three silver/white lines. Thing is - the counting of parts was instituted in the 1800s. And that was long after the Fieschi popes, long after the VMs parchment dates, and probably well after the creation of the VMs illustrations. Besides which, the patterns on the VMs tubs presumably go all the way around, so the determination of the number of stripes is not possible.
So, if the investigator can see through the misdirection of the radial illusion, remove the intentional obfuscation, and not get hung up in the modern penchant for counting the number of parts, things will look a lot different. A pair of bendy patterns in blue and white, along with a red galero are significant clues that define a unique historical event that occurred when Sinibaldo Fieschi, as Pope Innocent IV, made his nephew, Ottobuono Fieshi, a cardinal in 1251 CE. Cardinals may be distinguished by their red galeros. Other colors indicate other hierarchical ranks or orders. And it was Innocent IV who instituted this tradition. And in the VMs illustration, the proper hierarchical placement in the celestial spheres for pope and cardinal is the positioning that is represented, along with other examples of the objective use of location.
So at the time of the VMs parchment dates, we have a 200 year old religious tradition, a standard practice widely known by virtually all associated with the dominant religious institution in Europe at the time. And a tradition likely to be known by the educated and literate persons of the VMs era, because the same institution was the source of their education. And obviously things are vastly different in the modern day. The VMs author felt the need for disguise and obfuscation. However, if investigators cannot discover what has been hidden behind what is essentially a Groucho Marx disguise, it is in all probability because they were not familiar with the essential heraldic and historical facts in the first place. Such information would have been much more familiar to church officials, monks, nuns, etc. at the time of VMs creation. And the papelonny pun provides an incontrovertible confirmation.