# # Identification: # # * Title: "Aries dark" # * Page: f70v1 = JF (Rene) = p134 (Stolfi) # * Folio: f70 # * Panels: f70v1 # * Bifolio: bJ1 = f69+f70 # * Quire: J (Rene) = X (Beinecke) # # This page is the innermost verso panel of a six-panel fold-out. # # Plate 1 of Tiltman's article. # Levitov figure 24, page 164. # D'Imperio figure 10, page 88 (center). # # Attributes: # # * Language: ? (Currier) # * Hand: ? (Currier) # * Subsets: Z (Rene), zod (Stolfi) # * Subject: zodiac # * Colors: green(touches),yellow(touches) (Reeds), green(bush),blue(floor),brownish_greeen(goat),blue,green_stripes(floor_of_tub_ring_2_05:00) (Rene) # # Description: # # A circular diagram defined by three narrow concentric bands, each # delimited by two faint, mechanically drawn circles. # # The innermost band is quite narrow, and empty. The middle and # outer bands contain each a ring of text, reading clockwise. The # text in the middle band (unit µ{R1}) has a slightly wider word gap # at 06:00, and is interrupted at 08:30 by a black irregular spot. # (The same spot appears on the facing page f71r, quod videt.) The # text in the outer band (unit µ{R2}) has a noticeably wider word gap # at 03:45. Both rings are penetrated at 10:30 by "stars"---see # below). # # Inside the innermost band is a four-legged, hoofed animal # resembling a beardless goat. The animal has short fur (paintd # brownish-green), sharp horns that curve backwards, and a short and # chubby tail. It also seems to have a crest of short hairs running # along the spine, from head to tip of tail. # # The animal is nibbling at a bush, standing on a scalloped (rocky?) # ground. Below the animal's belly is a non-Voynichese word. The # word could be transcribed as "ab^ril" in the Roman alphabet, where # the "^" stands for a small mark, resembling a superscript "h" # (confirmed by Rene [04 Apr 1999]). # # In the broad space between the outer and middle bands there are 10 # human figures, or "nymphs"; and 5 more in the space between the # middle and inner bands---or 15 nymphs in total. Each nymph is # standing (radially, with the head outwards) in frontal view, or # slightly turned towards the corresponding "star" (see below). All # nymphs look female; most have prominent breasts, and the two # exceptions (in frontal view) are rather poorly drawn, so the lack # of breasts is not conclusive. # # Some of the nymphs are dressed, but the nipples and body outline # often show threough the dress. Most nymphs, even naked ones, wear # some kind of headgear (hat, veil, diadem, etc.) # # Every nymph is standing inside an upright cylindrical container or # "barrel". In proportion to the nymph, the barrel is about two feet # wide, and has a "lip" a couple of inches wide. It usually reaches # up to the nymph's pelvis---sometimes bit lower, sometimes up to # her chest. Most of the barrels are decorated with distinctive # patterns of bars, dots, hatchings, circles, scales, etc.; but two # barrels have only a ring of dots, near the top edge, and three are # undecorated. The base of the barrel is hidden by the text band. # Rene reports [04 Apr 1999] that the tub in the outer ring at 05:00 has # green stripes and a blue floor. # # Each nymph has a star or flower by her head; usually on the # clockwise side, with four exceptions (inner 00:00, 02:30, 05:00, # and outer 03:30). Some stars have wire-like tails or stems. The # star at 10:30 in the inner band has a thicker, distinctive tail, # like a banded snake. Moreover, the two stars at 10:30 (inner and # outer) intrude slightly into the surrounding text ring. # # Some nymphs are holding their stars (by a ray or by the tail); # others are pointing at them; and some have both hands on the hips, # usually hidden by the barrel. # # Between every two nymphs there is a one- or two-word label (units # "S1" and "S2"), reading clockwise. From the spacing, it would seem # that every label refers to the preceding nymph, going clockwise. # # The following table summarizes the nymph and star attributes. The # "spos" column gives the position of the star relative to the # nymph: "cw" if clockwise, "ccw" if counterclockwise. The "deco" # column tells whether the barrel has "full" decoration, or just a # ring of "dots", or "no" decoration at all. The "dres" and "brst" # columns say whether the nymph is dressed and has visible female # breasts, respectively. The "hold" column says whether the nymph is # holding the star (by a ray, or by the tail if present). # # band label place deco dres brst spos tail hold notes # ------ ----- ----- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ------------------ # inner S1.1 10:30 full no ? cw yes no? striped star tail # inner S1.2 00:00 full no yes ccw yes no # inner S1.3 02:30 dot yes ? ccw yes no # inner S1.4 04:00 no yes no ccw yes no # inner S1.5 08:00 dot yes yes cw yes no # # outer S2.1 10:30 no no ? cw yes yes thicker star tail # outer S2.2 00:00 no no yes cw no yes # outer S2.3 01:30 full yes no cw yes no # outer S2.4 02:45 full yes no cw no yes # outer S2.5 03:45 full yes ? ccw yes no # outer S2.6 04:45 full yes yes cw yes no # outer S2.7 05:45 dot yes yes cw yes no # outer S2.8 07:00 full no yes cw yes no # outer S2.9 08:00 full yes yes cw no yes # outer S2.10 09:00 full no yes cw no yes # # There is a mark "10^{mg}" at the lower right corner of the page. # It is certainly a gathering mark (quire number), "10th" in # abbreviated Latin. # # Comments: # # STYLE AND LAYOUT # # The ram/goat is drawn very skillfully and looks quite realistic, # except that the way its front legs bend looks wrong. (But I am # a city boy, what do I know...) # # The barrels are drawn rather poorly: better than those of f71r # (Aries light) but worse than those of f70v2 (Pisces). The width # and height are quite variable. The perspective is minimally # correct, but the top of the barrel is tilted at varying angles # relative to the observer, from near edge-on (outer 08:00) to # almost face-on (inner 02:30). In three cases (outer 02:45 and # 03:45, inner 08:00) the top is rendered as an eye, not an ellipse. # # The pattern on the inner barrel at 00:00 is rather peculiar. # Unlike the other patterns it is neither symmetric nor repeating; # it looks rather like a cubist painting. It looks as if the barrel # is made of glass, so that the nymph's legs and hands are showing # through. (Perhaps the pattern was drawn to hide a mistake, or # an artistic failure?) # # THE CENTRAL EMBLEM # # The central figure is widely believed to be a symbol of the sign # Aries. The word is traditionally read as some variant of the month # name "April". Aries goes from ??? to ???. # # THE TEXT RINGS # # There is no obvious starting place for the text rings. The wider # breaks at 04:00 (outer) and 06:00 (inner) are not aligned, and do # not seem to be natural choices for starting the text. The binding # gutter at 03:00 is not it either, as the text was visibly squeezed # to fit in that part of the ring. # # The most likely starting places, IMHO, are the places at 10:45 # where the stars intrude into the text bands. Note that the inner # star has the special striped "tail", and the outer star is being # held high up by the nymph. (However, the first star enters just # before a "daiin", and the second one under a word; so there is # reason to doubt.) # # THE NYMPHS # # Either the dresses are meant to be transparent, or they were added # later, in an attempt to mask the naked bodies. # # THE LABELS # # The outer label at 08:30 () reads "otshshdy" in standard EVA. # The two "sh" have quite different plumes---the first one is a closed # drop-like loop, the second is a open hook. # # References: # # # Last edited on 1999-04-20 02:26:20 by stolfi