ReneZ > 04-03-2016, 02:09 AM
(03-03-2016, 05:02 PM)-JKP- Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.There's plenty of evidence that the VMS illustrator was exposed to western herbals. Look at the oak tree host for the ivy, the monks' heads in the roots, the animal shapes in others—these are all herbal tradition.
Koen G > 04-03-2016, 08:39 AM
Diane > 04-03-2016, 10:40 AM
-JKP- > 04-03-2016, 05:24 PM
Koen G > 04-03-2016, 05:54 PM
-JKP- > 04-03-2016, 06:24 PM
(04-03-2016, 05:54 PM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I think many people underestimate the amount of copying that went on in the middle ages, and how little material was actually original.
Also in literary traditions, many supposedly original works drew heavily on oral traditions, examples of the ancients, examples from other countries...
Koen G > 04-03-2016, 06:49 PM
Davidsch > 07-03-2016, 01:36 PM
Quote:reneZ: ....as they tend to be more symbolic, and clearly don't represent nature at all.
-JKP- > 07-03-2016, 06:18 PM
(07-03-2016, 01:36 PM)Davidsch Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Quote:reneZ: ....as they tend to be more symbolic, and clearly don't represent nature at all.
...
If you look at the combinations of the flowers, leafs and roots, you must conclude these are at least a big percentage fantasy-like drawings.
Davidsch > 08-03-2016, 01:06 PM
Quote:.. Dr. Cristina Dondi of the Bodleian Library has suggested that the manuscript’s provenance might be the Veneto since the Italian in some of the medical notes in the late notes has a distinctly regional flavor. This might also explain some of the, so far unidentified Italian plant names.
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The first group, all colored and apparently dating from the first half of the 15th century, consists of about 70 drawings with contemporary captions (some of which have been revised) but without text. These are executed in a conventional style, typical of the medieval Apuleius herbal. They are clearly copied from other manuscripts and the plants are often unrecognizable. The roots are heavily emphasized and are often depicted as fantastic faces and creatures, e.g. the female mandragora (f. 36) and the woad plant (f. 42), which has a blue root with a human face.
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The second group of drawings, apparently made by the writer of the text, probably dates from the last quarter of the century. Some of the drawings are in pen and ink outline, others fully or partially colored. Although crudely drawn, the artist has obviously made some effort at accuracy in order that the plants be identifiable (see f. 27 where the artist has made his own sketch of the oriola alongside the conventional representation of the earlier period). Nevertheless, the artist retains the mythological and anecdotal elements found in the Pseudo-Apuleius illustration such as the female and male mandragora root (ff. 38v and 39v, the latter tethered to a dog to uproot it) and the oregano with the human face drinking the juice to demonstrate its application (f. 76v).
The third group, illustrating about 86 plants, entirely in color, is drawn in a naturalistic style and may have been taken from life. The plants are easily recognizable (e.g. primrose on f. 4v, peony on f.24v and balsamina on f. 77v). They must be contemporary with the text, being in some cases painted over the text while in others the text is written over the illustrations. They are captioned in the same hand.
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