MarcoP > 22-05-2018, 11:22 AM
Aurara84 > 23-05-2018, 01:55 AM
(22-05-2018, 11:22 AM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Hi Laura,Thankyou Marco! I'll enjoy reading through these links
I will point out some more sources about the illustrations, in particular those of the "bathing" section (Quire 13).
Aurara84 > 23-05-2018, 02:11 AM
(22-05-2018, 11:22 AM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.In another essay in the same volume, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. focuses on the alchemical tradition. She notices that the illustrations do not fit in the alchemical tradition, mostly because almost all the figures are women, while alchemy made extensive use of male and female elements and sexual metaphors. Yet she seems to believe that the illustrations are likely allegorical: alchemy can then be useful as a parallel, since it is a contemporary line of largely newly-created allegorical imagery, mostlt based on personifications.
ReneZ > 23-05-2018, 05:33 AM
MarcoP > 24-05-2018, 08:42 AM
Aurara84 > 24-05-2018, 07:28 PM
(24-05-2018, 08:42 AM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Both the Zoroastrian yazatas and Paracelsan "archaei" seem potentially interesting. In particular, the Zoroastrian calendar has 30 deities associated with the days of the month: this looks like a good parallel for the 30 nymphs surrounding the Voynich zodiac medallions (but the Persian deities are both male and female, as far as I know).
Koen G > 24-05-2018, 07:50 PM
Aurara84 > 24-05-2018, 08:02 PM
(22-05-2018, 11:22 AM)MarcoP Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. noticed that the zodiac wheels are comparable with those in the Alfonsine "Astromagia" manuscript (You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.). He thought the content possibly includes -a general cosmological philosophy explaining the medical properties of terrestrial objects, particularly plants, by celestial influences transmitted by astral radiation and those "spirits" which were frequently believed to transmit the occult powers of the stars to the earth-
(24-05-2018, 07:50 PM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.We speak about "nymphs", "ladies" etc out of convenience, but it is generally agreed that there are a few dozen men. I think between 50 and 60 in the whole manuscript, but this is just from memory. Does someone recall if we counted this once?
Aurara84 > 24-05-2018, 08:11 PM
(24-05-2018, 07:50 PM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.My personal suspicion is that the VM images were copied from a source that did not differentiate well between the male and female body, and there was some doubt by the copyist. Bu that's speculation.
MarcoP > 24-05-2018, 08:50 PM
(24-05-2018, 08:02 PM)Aurara84 Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.With Koen's comment in mind about there not being any uses of female figures as an allegory on the biological functions of plants in any of the manuscripts he's seen... It's only perhaps a small step from female figures representing "those *spirits* which were frequently believed to transmit the occult powers of the stars to the earth" in order to explain "the medical properties of terrestrial objects, particularly plants", to a manuscript (in my mind, the VM) which goes that little bit further and illustrates those same *spirits* being the celestial influence that animates and brings to life those same plants. In a way this could actually complement many existing theories about the manuscript's links to constellations / the zodiac / alchemy etc.