Diane wrote:
I think, three similar shapes of scratches can give us a little confidence that they were not accidental. But whether the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. scratch is accidental or not, the way in which it is done can be a last hint. Although it is, as always, only a speculation, it can explain a few things in the VMs:
1) not so usual style of the plant depictions;
2) so carefully depicted different patterns on the tubes in the Zodiac diagrams;
3) intricate and various shapes of the jars in the "pharma" section;
4) abundance of the circular diagrams ornated with many different patterns.
It is really interesting why any usual herbalist, phisician or alchemist would depict such not so important details along with some inaccuracy in the other ones which seem to be more necessary.
Maybe, my further conclusions are not that point you led, but I need to share it.
XV century is exactly the time when different Oriental, Bisantine influences were reflected in different types of Italian art, philosophy and science. Ceramics is not an exception. (Detailed - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.)
So, I quite agree, maybe, this handicraft is really reflected here, in the VMs, as a part of life of the author, his professional habits or influence of the family business.
Examples of Italian ceramics of XIV-XV cc.:
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You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (note: it contains armorial diagonal blue strips, similarly to one of the VMs tubes on the f71r)
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You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (it contains the pattern of scales, also familiar to us)
By this I don't mean that the Voynich patterns are meaningless and only play the role of decoration.
Quote:[...]Indeed, ceramics is a very interesting thought, as for me.
It seems to me that whoever scratched the pigment in folios of the Vms either did so accidentally - as may well be the case - or they did so quite easily because they had been accustomed to scratching pigment - as a technique used in one of those four professions.
...
I don't think the Vms sgraffito is the work of an accomplished Latin EUropean artist; it could be the work of a scribe, but if so why should be employ a technique which had little purpose in Byzantine or Latin manuscript art apart from when writing in gold? I don't think anything in the manuscript justifies attributing the sgraffito to a builder's labourer. So that leaves us - temporarily anyway - with ceramics.
I think, three similar shapes of scratches can give us a little confidence that they were not accidental. But whether the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. scratch is accidental or not, the way in which it is done can be a last hint. Although it is, as always, only a speculation, it can explain a few things in the VMs:
1) not so usual style of the plant depictions;
2) so carefully depicted different patterns on the tubes in the Zodiac diagrams;
3) intricate and various shapes of the jars in the "pharma" section;
4) abundance of the circular diagrams ornated with many different patterns.
It is really interesting why any usual herbalist, phisician or alchemist would depict such not so important details along with some inaccuracy in the other ones which seem to be more necessary.
Maybe, my further conclusions are not that point you led, but I need to share it.
XV century is exactly the time when different Oriental, Bisantine influences were reflected in different types of Italian art, philosophy and science. Ceramics is not an exception. (Detailed - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.)
So, I quite agree, maybe, this handicraft is really reflected here, in the VMs, as a part of life of the author, his professional habits or influence of the family business.
Examples of Italian ceramics of XIV-XV cc.:
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (note: it contains armorial diagonal blue strips, similarly to one of the VMs tubes on the f71r)
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. (it contains the pattern of scales, also familiar to us)
By this I don't mean that the Voynich patterns are meaningless and only play the role of decoration.