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This section attempts to present the analysis of the illustrations found in the Voynich MS. Such analyses can only be made by competent specialists, such as historians of botany or astronomy, of paleography, or of medieval history in general. Due to my lack of expertise in any of these areas and I can essentially only summarise the few specialist reports available. Interpretation of the illustrations inevitably allows for a lot of well-meant speculation and some of this is presented here as well.
That having been said by way of disclaimer, let me introduce the organisation of this page. The analysis of the illustrations is subdivided as follows: after a general description of the materials used, descriptions are first made per 'section' in the MS as explained in the section Description of the MS:
Then some special categories of items used in the illustration will be highlighted.
A list of precedents for the illustations (and other topics) is maintained by Dennis Stallings at his >> web site .
Herbal pages typically contain one, sometimes two, page-filling plant pictures with some short paragraphs of text written to carefully avoid the drawings. This composition is very similar to that of manuscript herbals produced between late antiquity and the early Renaissance, some examples of which may be seen together on a >> page of M. McCarthy
Points about the study of herbal pages, which will be expanded:
Astronomical pages feature drawings of Sun and/or moon, and arrangements of stars. It is sometimes hard to draw a clear line between astronomical and cosmological pages (see below). The twelve astronomical pages which have illustrations of the zodiac are called astrological.
The astrological pages contain concentric circles with about 30 nymphs holding stars, and an emblem of a zodiac sign in the center. The nymphs are similar to those drawn in the biological section (see below). There is a probably relevant precedent for such nymphs in a Byzantine astronomical MS in the Vatican Library.
Mention the Pleiades
Mention the Andromeda Nebula and how it cannot be represented
About Bradley Schaefer's article...
Present my magnitude / Regulus theory
Cosmological pages feature geometric designs which cannot be
easily classified. The use of the term 'cosmological' for these
pages was first introduced by Newbold.
Many cosmological illustrations are of circular design, and there is one
composite of nine connecting circles with four smaller items on
the corners.
An extensive discussion of the Rosettes page belongs here
Perhaps the most enigmatic section of the Voynich MS is the biological
section which contains drawings of human figures (mostly unclothed
and female) in arrangements of pipes or vessels, what seem like
baths or clouds. Many illustrations leave the impression of
representing a chemical (alchemical) or natural process.
See also the above-mentioned Byzantine
astronomical MS in the Vatican Library for a precendent of
such feminine figures.
Mention the Balnei Puteolani.
Mention the various resemblances between on the biollogical page with the apparent intestines and the text on one of the pages of the Balnei (baths of St.Peter).
Mention the falloppian tubes and D'Imperio's exasperation
Mention the central bifolium being out of place.
Collections of jars and parts of plants, such as individual leaves and roots.
Mention Brumbaugh's pepper here.
Some pages contain only text, with stars drawn in the margin. The stars may be colored dark of light, and may have a tail. This section of the Ms is at the end, and is also referred to as the 'recipes' section, in analogy to some alchemical MS's.
Say something about f58, about any correlation with the zodiac pages, and about the double star case.
Some pages contain no illustration at all, but only text.
Say something about their distribution and possible role.
The following pages are missing from the MS: fol. 12 (excised, stub still visible), fols. 59-64 (dropped out of quire centre, but were still present at the time of Newbold), fol. 74 (excised, stub still visible), Quire 16 (fols. 91 and 92), Quire 18 (fols. 97 and 98), fols. 109-110 (dropped out of quire centre?).
When / where were they lost? It seems as if one of each type is missing.
Animals
The Sun
The Moon
Stars, constellations
T-O maps
Some pages contain a circle subdivided into two halves, with one
half further split into two quarters. This design is very similar
to a medieval stylized world map referred to as a T-O map. The
three sections of the T-O map refer to the continents of Europe,
Asia and Africa. These maps may be seen on the following pages:
Miscellaneaous oddities
Christian imagery
The Voynich MS contains very few recognisable Christian symbols (indeed,
there are few recognisable symbols from any known religion).
However, in fol. 79v, the woman in the top left of
the picture holds a crucifix and is illuminated by radiance coming down from
above
In the absence of evidence to the contrary, it has to be assumed that, if the Voynich MS contains meaningful text, this text is related with the illustrations. Some examples of how this may help in the decipherment of the MS are given below.
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