RE: Water Lily folio 2v stalk remedy
-JKP- > 01-03-2016, 04:52 PM
[quote pid='1897' dateline='1456832708']
Davidschrene i agree with you: saying it isn't this or that because it resembles more this and that doesn't help.
Also, it is my opinion after much study, that discussion what herbal looks like which herbal is somewhat useless.
Because, for example:
*herbals in general in the period of the VMS are drawn not nature-like
The VMS is not a general herbal. No one would draw a rhizome that accurately by accident, especially since other illustrators of the time almost never paid attention to the details of rhizomes and the VMS illustrator did. Even the veins in each plant, when they help in identification, are carefully drawn to follow the type for that plant. So are the leaf margins. As fantastical as they may seem, the morphology of the VMS plants, in the detail sense, is not fantastical, even if the overall look is stylized.
*herbals in de VMS are not nature-like
Many of the VMS plants are "true to form", whether people can see it or not. Look at the "water lily", viola (very accurate), castor oil, Greek oregano, Phu, and Cannabis plant (and there are others). The attention to the plant's morphology is one of the things that drew me to the manuscript and which holds me to it. To interpret the plants, you need to learn the VMS iconography, but once you do, it's used pretty consistently. You can't always narrow down the specific species, but with many you can get it down to two or three, which is more than you can say for most medieval herbals.
*herbals in similar MS have often names that are not latin, but slang or invented names
Often that "slang" name is the local name and we have enough information now, on the Web, to track down some of those local names.
*herbals are always copied and then altered and then copied again
What is unique about the VMS is that the copying aspect is not as strong as with other manuscripts. I believe, from extensive study of the plants, that at least some may have been drawn from real specimens, or possibly in the field, and that is why they differ from herbal tradition.
*coloring of the herbals is often done with colors "at hand"
I strongly suspect much of the paint was added later in another hand. When you separate out the messy ones from the careful ones, you can see that colors were carefully chosen, even if it was a limited palette. Even the shade of green for the leaves has been darkened or lightened (or made slightly bluer) to reflect the species.
What is more interesting to me:
from which MS did the write copy the drawings ?
The only one I've found so far that is close to a direct copy is the "oak tree" host for the vine that resembles Hedera. It definitely follows herbal tradition, I don't think it could be coincidence, but if the VMS illustrator were working from herbarium specimens, for example (or in the field), then they wouldn't come out the same as everyone else's. Some of the others show signs of the illustrator having seen other herbals (the Phu plant, for example, the root with monks' heads, and roots that look vaguely like animals, a common herbal tradition), but the VMS phu is drawn more accurately than most.
I think the reason the plants are different from the standard fare is because the VMS illustrator had genuine scientific leanings and took some of the information from direct experience. The nude ladies are not gratuitous. When it's bathing, or natural cycles, they are nude. When it's something else (e.g., Virgo), they are not. If the person who created the document lived in contemporary society, I suspect this person would sign up for a biology class.
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