RE: No text, but a visual code
R. Sale > 19-04-2022, 07:16 PM
When I ignore the language and look at the imagery, as you suggest, the imagery divides itself into several separate groups; "plants", "planets", "zodiac", Quire 13, "pharmaceuticals", etc. So, I see the imagery in each of these sections as pretty much separate. Now I know there was this increasing phase of ideological syncretism in the 1400s, all that business about the stars' influence on the plants and the Zodiac Man, and there were all the sorts of sympathetic associations that led to the world of Ficino. So, it cannot be denied that such interpretations were present. Therefore, their presence in the VMs is a possibility. However, that is not the only thing that was going on in the C-14 dates.
Mariology was clearly on the increase in the 1400s. The increasing number of subtle religious references in the VMs clearly takes an open investigation beyond merely plants and stars. The history of the conflict between the reformations promoted by Colette of Corbie and those who resisted her changes brought accusations of heresy. All of this has ties to the state of Burgundy during the C-14 dates.
The VMs has a mysterious appearance. It's only when one can start to take it apart that one can see how it was put together. This type of demonstration is only possible for a limited set of examples. The interpretations can be fairly complicated in requiring historical details, however, there are several: the cosmos, Melusine, the Agnus Dei, New Jerusalem, the nebuly line and more that provide a historical or traditional explanation for what can be seen, strangely reflected in certain VMs illustrations.
The use of historical details requires the recovery of historical details. What is the armorial insignia of the pope who instituted the tradition of the cardinal's red galero? Heraldry plays a role in the VMs investigation, but it's complicated by the historical detail. That is to say, it is complicated by the absence of the historical data connection. That situation has been somewhat improved within the last decade.
A second difficulty, severely compounding the recovery of historical detail, is the use of obfuscation, the intentional creation of ambiguity. The use of dual interpretations, the combination of disparate images, or making a code shift are clear techniques of trickery, once the relevant, historical details have been recovered. The further investigation of these VMs illustrations shows visual alteration and structural confirmation. Structural details easily confirm identification when visual similarity is obvious. Clearly things don't work as well when the illustrations are disguised. And even more so if the investigational connections to the historical details are lacking. Clearly there are also limits to ambiguity. Blue stripes must still be blue. Structural details confirm ambiguous interpretations of appearance. But why were things disguised in the first place??
If there's a simple explanation for all of this, and that's all there is, what is it?