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Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
- Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
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Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
Thomas_S > 12-06-2018, 08:28 AM
In the Dombibliothek of Freising (near Munich) there a 1501 manuscript titled Regula Sancti Salvatoris - Pro Monasterio Sanctae nostrae Birgittae in Altmünster (reference DBF-Hss Alto MS D 11).
It contains text with just one illustration :
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but which has some interesting parallels with the VM :
- ink type and width of quill strokes
- wiggly plants
- not so precise greenish coloring
- white lilies
- women involved
- particular shape of the nose-to-eyebrow (very reminiscent of the VM, from women to moons and suns, e.g. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. )
Note that the illustrator is not necessarily the person who wrote the text of that manuscript.
Of course I'm not claiming that this is the same illustrator of the VM based just on this. But I'd be truly curious to compare the DNA of the vellum from both documents.
Are you aware of other illustrations with that type of nose to eyebrow and VM-like appearance ? If so please do mention them in this thread, thank you. -
RE: Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
-JKP- > 12-06-2018, 10:32 AM
It does seem to be approximately the same level of drawing skill.
I've been collecting faces for years, hoping to find something that might match the VMS faces, and I have a few that are similar, but nothing I would consider an exact match. I haven't had time to organize and post them yet. -
RE: Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
Koen G > 12-06-2018, 12:05 PM
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Most three quarter view images make a line from the nose along the eyebrow and the forehead. What makes the VM nymphs rather ugly (or appear badly drawn) is that the part of the line that forms the forehead does not really take the integration of the forehead with the lower part into account. This is rather abstract, I'll try to show it with some drawings.
The nuns are in near-frontal view, and the line which makes the forehead (blue) is the one that ends in the chin. In the VM, this line ends in the nose.
However, these lines also reveal variation in drawing style in the VM. In many nymphs, these consist of three lines, resulting in a more normal profile.
These look more like the nuns you posted, but those are still more frontal than the VM faces and I'm not sure why you consider them an especially good match. It must be the green
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RE: Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
-JKP- > 12-06-2018, 12:22 PM
The most distinctive thing about the VMS faces is the lumpy outer cheek and the almost-absent other cheek (the jawline does not extend along the line of the closer cheek and, on some of them, that semicircle line from the eyebrow to the forehead (which is odd and distinctive).
The rosy cheeks are not unusual and I've seen a few manuscripts where the eyes are sometimes filled in and sometimes hollow. In one manuscript, hollow eyes indicated death, in another, hollow eyes indicated less important people in the picture (people in the crowd). -
RE: Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
Davidsch > 12-06-2018, 12:45 PM
(12-06-2018, 10:32 AM)-JKP- Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I've been collecting faces for years, hoping to find something that might match the VMS faces, and I have a few that are similar, but nothing I would consider an exact match. I haven't had time to organize and post them yet.
...
perhaps this article is interesting for you: Do We Really Need to Collect Millions of Faces ... You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. -
RE: Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
DONJCH > 12-06-2018, 01:11 PM
I did a double take at the illuminations on f25 and f36. For a minute I thought they were pipes!
In fact, vines I guess. Yet some of the coloring style seems vaguely reminiscent. -
RE: Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
davidjackson > 12-06-2018, 05:43 PM
Rather than the drawing style, how common is the three quarters profile of the Voynich nymphs? -
RE: Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
Koen G > 12-06-2018, 06:20 PM
Three quarters is extremely common. If you present all figures in profile or looking straight at the camera, it will look very weird. The first will look Egyptian (or another very early art style) and the second will look like a child's drawing. So somewhat accomplished draughtsmen will always go for three quarters or a mix of perspectives.
What is uncommon, however, is the ridiculous consistency with which the VM presents nymphs in the same angle. If I recall correctly, there are like three nymphs that are not in three quarter view. I seriously doubt that there is any document with, say, a hundred human figures, where all faces are drawn in the same perspective. -
RE: Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
davidjackson > 12-06-2018, 06:51 PM
Exactly Koen. It's a very striking fashion. -
RE: Nose-to-eyebrow : a possible parallel
-JKP- > 12-06-2018, 08:55 PM
There is an old book (if I remember correctly, it is in Sanskrit), that sets out rules for how figures are to be drawn.
It is extremely regimented... this leg should be this way, eyes should face that way, if the person is a noble, they should be doing this, angles should be this. It was aimed, of course, at iconographically communicating meaning to people (traditionally, to those who couldn't read), and was probably especially relevant to those decorating sacred places, where historical and spiritual lessons were conveyed through the figures.
I've been trying to discover whether similar "manuals" existed in the western world, a textual codification on how to draw figures, because the description of the poses reminded me of the VMS (although the VMS does now follow the same guidelines and is not as strict as the Indic descriptions).
I can't remember the name of it. If I find it, I'll post the title. It's possible it has been blogged somewhere on the Web, but if the blog is in an Indic language, it might be difficult to locate.