Ladies with Rings

[-JKP-]

...
Again, sorry for my posting, i can understand your reaction.
At this point i think it is better for me to become a more silent member of ninja and just read a lot and post less.

...

Don't be so thin-skinned.

What does it matter if someone disagrees? It's only their opinion.

[MarcoP]

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., Rene had just linked an interesting manuscript (Vatikan, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., Winandus <de Stega>, Mons quatuor fluvialium arborum — 1417) which includes a lady with ring. I haven't tried reading the text in detail [PS: from what I understand, it could be about marriage and degrees of kinship].
Many thanks to Rene for linking this interesting ms!

[EllieV]

There is a person holding something like a ring in Vaticana, Pal. lat 411
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[VViews]

EllieV & MarcoP:
Great minds think alike I see^^

Here's another one from BL Add.35166, England, 1260:

 The Lamb and his bride holding a gold ring to signify their marriage (f23):

Sorry about the poor quality, this is only a detail of a larger image and the BL site doesn't have a better zoom.

[MarcoP]

Here's another one from BL Add.35166, England, 1260:

 The Lamb and his bride holding a gold ring to signify their marriage (f23):

Thank you VViews.
Hi-res image here:

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I would say that marriage/faithful love is the only systematic correlation with have found for this symbol?

[Davidsch]

common usage of a ring: marriage of Henry III and Eleanor of Provence

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[VViews]

I would say that marriage/faithful love is the only systematic correlation with have found for this symbol?

So far it seems that way.
I am still unsure because in all of these cases, we see rings being held ever so daintily, between two fingers or barely touching the hand.
The way the Voynich nymphs grasp the ring is more akin to the way the jeweler does in the image I posted previously.
So I'm undecided at this point.

[Helmut Winkler]

I would say that marriage/faithful love is the only systematic correlation with have found for this symbol?

The only other medieval use  I know of is investing someone with secular or ecclesiastical rule by giving him a ring, which I think is unlikely here

[VViews]

The only other medieval use  I know of is investing someone with secular or ecclesiastical rule by giving him a ring, which I think is unlikely here

I agree Helmut it is a possibility but the likelihood is less than optimal: the issue with both the marriage and the investiture interpretations, aside from the firm grip the nymph has on the ring which I mentioned already, is the fact that these scenes usually involve two participants at least, such as the bride and groom, for the marriage example. In the Voynich two of the three nymphs are alone, and the other one appears to be near what could be a child.
I believe there may be other explanations to this pose and grasp, such as if this drawing belongs to the realm of the medical/technical/magical, such as in the case of the jeweller or in Glen Claston's suggestion of a pessary, or other possibilities such as the heraldic image I linked to initially in this thread.

[Davidsch]

I was looking at Italian pictures mostly, and thought it was a key, but 


(segretezza overo taciturnita)

only now (researching British literature), i realize it is indeed a ring !

the giving of a ring  for a person symbolizes: holyness, kind hearted, nobleness, prudent and pious nature



You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.about identical picture & symbolic meaning.