R. Sale > 23-12-2020, 08:57 PM
That's the great thing about ambiguity; you see what you want to see. It works every time. And make no mistake about it, the VMs is ambiguous - intentionally ambiguous.
So, are the two illustrations related? If both are pipes or rainbows, then perhaps, <All rainbows are rainbows.>, but if they differ, what is the relationship?
The problem is one of interpretation. If they are pipes, they are pipes. So what? Turn the page.
However, if they rainbows, then what? Turn the page, just the same?
Let's look at how rainbows are represented in medieval art, with consideration of the VMs C-14 results. Christine de Pizan's works show rainbows as the seats / thrones for a panoply of classical gods and goddesses. And as far as rainbow colors, these are rather gray. Christian art used a double rainbow as a throne and footstool for Christ. Is the VMs "double rainbow" a representation of such a seat? Hard to say - there is nobody sitting there.
As VMs investigations have accumulated in recent years, various ones have shown connections to Paris and to the Duchy of Burgundy. Primary among these has been the comparison of the 'critter' on VMs You are not allowed to view links.
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Login to view. to the fleece of the Golden Fleece and the premier order of knighthood for the Valois Duchy of Burgundy starting in 1430. A second representation of a fleece has also been proposed for one of the companion creatures of the 'mermaid' of VMs f79v. And this is no ordinary mermaid. This is Melusine of Luxembourg. Not the dragon Melusine of Lusignan, but the most mermaid-like Melusine of Luxembourg, and the Melusine for Bonne of Luxembourg, mother of the Valois generations - specifically Jean, Duke of Berry, whose library is much investigated, and Philip the Good, third Valois duke of Burgundy, who instituted the Order of the Golden Fleece. And clearly this is no ordinary mermaid; *she has knees.*
So what does this have to do with the You are not allowed to view links.
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Login to view. illustrations? Here is where history intervenes with the events involving La Sainte Hostie de Dijon in 1434. Dijon, of course, still being the principle residence of the Dukes of Burgundy. And the image imprinted on the Host shows Christ seated on a rainbow.
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So while a modern investigator may see pipes, I think we have to ask whether a person who was familiar with events, traditional rainbow depictions, and potentially contemporary with C-14 results might interpret the throne by itself as a significant marker, along with the other information (Golden Fleece etc.), as disguised clues from a culture that was dominant in Northern Europe through the early and mid 1400s. Having research results from various independent sources that indicate a mutually compatible result suggests an area deserving of further investigation.
Or.., they're just pipes. Turn the page. Because that is what a person, intent on deception, would want you to do. And surely, without the relevant details of history, that is no problem.