(10-10-2019, 05:43 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Coming back to Ellie's page, I see the point about orientation of the lower left (or South-East) circle as the most important point, and just about the only thing we can be reasonably certain about.
Given that (as so often) the text and the drawing are closely integrated, I do not doubt which orientation would have been 'up' for the person or persons creating this circle.
I agree: the fact that Ellie's interpretation depends on the correct orientation is one of the things I like in this idea.
(10-10-2019, 05:43 AM)ReneZ Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
The second important point, which applies to almost all of the MS, is to realise that it could represent many different things: a sky view of something (e.g. a cloister or a garden), a building (church or tabernacle), a tent, but also a church tabernacle (basically a miniature building usually made of, or coated with, gold).
In all cases, such possible representations are based on what it seems to look like. That is inevitable as long as we can't read the text.
It becomes a problem as soon as one wants to decide which of these items it is. What is the criterium to use in order to prefer one or the other?
In most discussions here, this tends to be either: "it looks more like A than like B". This is very subjective and very personal, and cannot be used in my opinion.
Alternatively, it is based on a consideration that "it fits with a theory". This is also not very good.
(Both these points seem to be the basis for the identification of meso-american plants in the MS.)
I would add a third criterion: economy. Ellie has identified a tent "theme" that covers several details of the rosettes and (similarly to what Wladimir did) can also be applied to the "umbrellas" in Q13. The meaning of these tents is difficult (or impossible) to explain, but internal coherence is a benefit, all other things being equal.
In the context of the SE Rosette, the two structures are similar, each featuring:
1. a rectangular "area"
2. a band of wavy-loopy "fringes" below the rectangle
3. three vertical "things"
If we interpret them as two baldachins, we have a single concept explaining the entirety of the two structures.
If the rectangle in the left structure represents the four rivers of paradise, what are the "fringes" and "poles"? What is the right structure?
As another example: one can see the six vertical objects in the central rosette as either pillars of "pharma" containers. The second interpretation makes the whole manuscript more coherent. Do I know what the containers mean? No, of course.