RE: f46v San Michael ?
R. Sale > 02-08-2022, 08:56 PM
I cannot agree. Things can be seen in the VMs. Each investigation is an example.
Take the VMs cosmos. How do you explain it? I promote the comparison to the cosmic illustrations from BNF Fr 565 and Harley 334. These illustrations originate in Paris, during the VMs C-14 time-span. And Paris, in the time-span 1420-1435, is not French, but is held by the Duke of Bedford, in alliance with the Duke of Burgundy. That's just history.
Take the actual VMs cosmic illustration. The artist has made every effort to maximize visual diversity without violating structural integrity. Happy to discuss further, but won't do it here. But this is part of the artist's trickery. The creation of ambiguity. There is a cosmic boundary with 43 undulations.
Then there is Shirakatsi's wheel. There is no historical equivalent to it.
Harley 334 also has a mermaid with companions, like the VMs. The VMs artist gives her a personality. She has thighs. She is not a generic mermaid. She is Melusine of Luxembourg, mythical ancestress of the Valois - both Berry and Burgundy. These connections are historically referenced.
And, of course, there is the Golden Fleece. Whether it is accepted or not, there are several indicators mutually compatible and also within the C-14 time-span. And the VMs illustration, often seen as the Golden Fleece (f80v) can be seen as a uniquely structured version of the Agnus Dei, borrowed from a book in the Burgundy library.
And there are the examples in all three of these instances, where two different objects have been brough together. In the cosmos, it is Oresme and Shirakatsi. In the mermaid, it is generic versus specific (Melusine). In the VMs critter, it is Lamb of God and fleece of gold.
Now to the rainbows. Take anything about rainbows between 1400 and 1450. Is there anything that connects rainbows to Burgundy? In the C-14 era, rainbows and particularly double rainbows were represented as celestial thrones for both classical and Christian divinities. The VMs double rainbow throne has no occupant, so there's a big ambiguity, but if it did...?? It turns out that La Sainte Hostie de Dijon (1435) was a significant historical event - but only in the shorter term. Christ is seated on a rainbow throne with the Arma Christi. A gift from the Pope to the Duke of Burgundy.
In the center of the VMs central rosette, in the center of the VMs illustration of New Jerusalem, is a representation described as a starry canopy. If there is anything beneath, it can't be seen. So, there's ambiguity coming out the ears. The only clue, and it's not that obvious, is that the canopy is held by six supports. Is there any hexagonal object that is relevant to the historical era and also part of Burgundy? There is the Well of Moses created in 1405 and found at the church, Chartreuse de la Sainte-Trinité de Champmol, in Dijon. Another thing that was better known in the shorter term, at the time. Like the whole of Burgundian history and events of the era were better known at the time.
And what other sorts of religious 'events' might have occurred in Burgundy during the C-14 dates. There were the reforms of Colette of Corbie, relevant to the VMs because her biography makes specific notes regarding a 'mystical' ring and cross, which as you surely know are among the "identified" objects held by nymphs in VMs illustrations. And she was supported by the duke and duchess of Burgundy.
Here is a house of cards, built on historical facts. Could a person who grew up, contemporary with this era, collect these various perspective views? Could a person contemporary with this time (presumably literate, and perhaps connected to the church) have lived in this era and *not* know these facts and events presented above?
There are also VMs illustrations that have potential interpretations involving Mariology that do not specifically connect to Burgundy, but to the era, along with other religious traditions.
These are things that demonstrate what the artist knows. Nebuly lines are cosmic boundaries. It's red hats and blue stripes, not blue hats and green stripes. It's the prior placement of two papelonny patterns. Catching up with the artist's use of heraldry requires consideration of canting. The VMs artist has drawn the structure in place. And the secret of canting is to have the proper terminology that makes the canting process function.
Whatever the nature of this story "told by the VMs", it will be hard to find better interpretations for these examples discussed.