#
# Identification:
#
#   * Title: "The 4 times 17 sequence"
#   * Page: f57v = HB (Rene) = p112 (Stolfi)
#   * Folio: f57
#   * Panels: f57v
#   * Bifolio: bH1 = f57+f66
#   * Quire: H (Rene) = VIII (Beinecke)
#
# Attributes:
#
#   * Language: B (Currier)
#   * Hand: 2 (Currier)
#   * Subsets: C (Rene), cos (Stolfi)
#   * Subject: cosmological
#   * Colors: tan (Reeds)
#
# Description:
#
#   A circular diagram. 
#
#   Eight concentric mechanically drawn circles delimit four rings of
#   text. The three innermost rings have extra-wide gaps at about
#   10:30. Faint double radial lines, almost but not quite aligned,
#   interrupt those three circles at those gaps. There is an isolated
#   word outside the outer circle, also at about 10:30, just clockwise
#   of the gaps and double lines.
#
#   The four rings contain a mixture of short words and Voynichese
#   characters. There are several "weirdoes", including some that occur
#   only here. The second ring from the outside contains 68 single
#   characters, consisting of four almost-exact copies of the same
#   17-character sequence.  Rene [04 Apr 1999] says that all the 
#   characters seem to be in the same ink.
#   
#   At the center is a simple squarish rosette, consisting of eight
#   rounded lobes, 4 short and 4 long. There is a dot at the center of
#   the rosette, surrounded by a small circle.
#   
#   In the space between the rosette and the innermost circular frame
#   there are four naked human figures, of indeterminate sex, visible
#   from the chest up, heads towards the center. Two are seen mostly
#   from the front two mostly from the back; two have both arms
#   raised, two have only one. Here are the combinations:
#
#     North:  back,  two arms straight in "V".
#     West:   front, one arm straight at 45 degrees.
#     South:  back,  two arms straight in "V".
#     East:   front, one arm forward then bent up, holding a ball.
#     
#   There are 8 labels inside the inner circle. Four of them radiate
#   from the smaller lobes of the rosette. There is a faint
#   rusty-brown smudge just clockwise of the Southeast radial label,
#   stretching parallel to it.
#   
#   The other four labels are roughly tangential (but with straight
#   baselines), to be read in the clockwise direction. Two of them are
#   placed as if they were continuations of the arms of the North
#   figure. Another is parallel to the West arm of the South figure,
#   and placed inwards from it, almost collinear with the arm of the
#   West figure. The fourth is placed close to the innermost framing
#   circle, between the elbow of the East figure and the armpit of the
#   South figure.
#
#   Rene observes [04 Apr 1999] that the vellum is more supple than
#   average.
#   
#   Ink density varies a lot in this page. On each figure and in the
#   text one can see some barely visible strokes with fuzzy borders, 
#   alternating with brown-black, sharp-edged strokes.
#   
#   The hair of the four figures is done mostly with broad, irregular
#   but sharp-edged strokes, of a distinctive faint yellow tinge. The
#   surface of those strokes is visibly smoother than that of adjacent
#   vellum.
#
#   The strokes of the framing circles are very thin, and they too show
#   an alternation of very light (sometimes invisible) and dark strokes.
#   The dark strokes are often dotted.
#
#   Near the bottom right corner, there is a glyph that looks like an
#   "y" with a macron accent. The macron protrudes a litle on the right side.
#   The "y" looks like a "v" with a tail attached to the upper end of the
#   right arm; the tail starts vertical then bends to the left and 
#   extends beyond the left end of the "v".
#
# Comments:
#   
#   The four radial labels seem to be associated with the four
#   directions perpendicular to the sides of the squarish rosette.
#   These directions divide the middle region into four equal quadrants, 
#   each dominated by one of the figures.
#   
#   The smudge parallel to the Southwest radial label could be 
#   what is left of an erased 3-4 letter label.
#   
#   Of the other four labels, two are clearly associated with the
#   directions of the arms of the North figure. Based on this clue,
#   the other two can be associated with the arms of the South figure.
#   Their illogical placement can be explained by lack of proper space 
#   beyond those two arms.
#   
#   It is not clear whether the ink used for the figure's hair is
#   indeed a different pigment or merely a diluted version of the
#   text/outline ink. It definitely looks different (more yellow) than
#   the faded outlines, even of those which are much lighter than the
#   hair. Its smooth texture is also quite peculiar, and there is a
#   hint that the strokes are slightly lower than the adjoining vellum
#   surface. This texture suggests a hard waxy color pencil, or a
#   thick glue-like paint. The dark brown "retouching" strokes seem
#   have been drawn on top of the hair strokes.
#   
#   In spite of the varying ink density, there is no visible evidence
#   of double-tracing on the framing circles. In spacing and shape,
#   the dots in the dotted parts of those circles seem to match the
#   natural bumps of the vellum surface. It seems likely that the dark
#   brown ink was applied with very little pessure on the pen,
#   possibly with a compass. (Contrast with the circles in the Zodiac
#   section.)
#   
#
# References:
#
#
# Last edited on 2004-09-08 21:48:54 by stolfi