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No text, but a visual code
- No text, but a visual code
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RE: No text, but a visual code
Antonio García Jiménez > 09-08-2024, 03:12 PM
In this codex written in German from the 15th century and therefore contemporary with the Voynich we see an illustration of The Pleiades. In reality we see seven women with a star above their head, but it is a book about the constellations and their identification is very clear.
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As we can see, identifying the fixed stars with women is not only unique to Voynich imagery. Although not very common, it is something that responds to the personification of concrete or abstract objects, an iconographic resource widely used in medieval times. -
RE: No text, but a visual code
Aga Tentakulus > 09-08-2024, 04:15 PM
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RE: No text, but a visual code
Antonio García Jiménez > 09-08-2024, 07:53 PM
I appreciate the replies so that my thread doesn't seem like a monologue. But it seems inappropriate to compare the illustrations of a codex from the 11th century with those of another from the 15th century.
It is evident that in 400 years there has been an evolution in iconography and in the 15th century the stars were personified as women. In any case, whether the stars are personified as men or women, as is the case with Voynich, what is clear is that what we see are human figures that represent something else. -
RE: No text, but a visual code
Antonio García Jiménez > 12-08-2024, 08:37 PM
On the zodiacal page of Pisces, each of the fish holds a star, like the female figures that surround them. No one would think that these are real fish and that it is about the astral influence on aquatic creatures. We all know that Pisces is a constellation of stars and that fish are pure symbolism.
Well, it's the same with female figures. They are not real women of flesh and blood, each one of them represents a star in the sky. And the same is in Quire 13. It is not a balneological or biological section. There are no real women bathing nor is it about anything to do with women's physiology.
It seems strange to me that this, which is basic in medieval iconography, is not understood. -
RE: No text, but a visual code
Antonio García Jiménez > 18-08-2024, 08:19 AM
I think that with the image of Virgo it will be better understood. A woman is represented but it is not a woman, it is a constellation of stars that is surrounded by drawings of women that represent the degrees of the constellation in the ecliptic, degrees occupied by the stars.
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RE: No text, but a visual code
Antonio García Jiménez > 21-08-2024, 12:09 PM
On the zodiacal pages the female figures hold a star each. In Quire 13 we see the same female figures but without the star. It is a symbolic representation of astral influence.
The stars are still in the sky, but what moves downward through the pipes of the universe are the medicinal virtues that the stars provide to the plants. The female figures are the representation of these beneficial virtues. -
RE: No text, but a visual code
Antonio García Jiménez > 24-08-2024, 02:46 PM
I believe that there is an undoubted unity in all parts of Voynich. Not just in style but, more importantly, in message. All sections convey the same meaning. We can see it, for example, between the Rosettes page, with those central containers, which are not towers as is often mistakenly said, and some of the containers in the pharmaceutical section.
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What is the iconographic reading that we should make of this parallelism of images?
I believe that the message that the authors want to convey is that the virtues of the plants, leaves and roots whose essence those containers collect, are a product of the stars. In fact we see the containers on the Rosettes page under a starry sky -
RE: No text, but a visual code
Antonio García Jiménez > 28-08-2024, 08:44 AM
In this painting by Konrad Witz we see a luxurious container very similar to those on the Rosettes page and in the pharmaceutical section. The painting is contemporary with the VM and represents King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who gives him the aromatic resins so appreciated from her country.
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Similar containers are those of this painting by the master Theodoric of Bohemia that represents the delivery of precious gifts from the Three Wise Men to Jesus: gold, incense and myrrh
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There seems to be no doubt that the containers that we see in the VM, both on the Rosettes page and in the pharmaceutical section, are intended to store the aromatic and medicinal resins of the plants. -
RE: No text, but a visual code
Koen G > 28-08-2024, 10:11 AM
That is an amazing parallel, Antonio. I placed them together so people can see it better:
After this comparison, I think we can be almost certain that the central Rosettes items are rich vessels of metal, probably gold. Also note that the only coloring on them is yellow, which we must assume has faded over time and was once much more bright.
This detail is part of a now dispersed altarpiece made ca. 1435 in Basel, where Konrad Witz worked most of his life. (He grew up in Rottweil, not too far northeast of Basel). It is called a "Salvation Mirror" altarpiece because it is based on scenes from the popular Speculum Humanae Salvationis.
I don't think we can draw any conclusions about the contents, only about the fact that these vessels are meant to be splendorous. Compare this scene from the same altarpiece, where Abisai brings water to King David: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
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RE: No text, but a visual code
R. Sale > 28-08-2024, 05:21 PM
In the Rosettes, that's a great comparison, esp. with the VMs far right. The two central examples have lost their thin stems, below the spheres, so they become more ambiguous in their potential interpretations. And, primarily, that would still include religious connotations.
The second example is still problematic. From what source could the VMs artist have drawn inspiration for such fantastic vessels? What do the colors represent? Are they made of metal or glass or are they just fantasies?