Page f72r1

[f71v]  [index]  [f72r2]

Identification

  Title: "Taurus dark"
  Page: f72r1 = KC (Rene) = p137 (Stolfi)
  Folio: f72
  Panels: f72r1
  Bifolio: bK1 = f71+f72
  Quire: K (Rene) = XI (Beinecke)

  This page is the innermost recto panel of an eight-panel fold-out.

Attributes

  Language: ? (Currier)
  Hand: ? (Currier)
  Subsets: Z (Rene), zod (Stolfi)
  Subject: zodiac
  Colors: dark-red,green(little),yellow(stars) (Reeds), red(bull),yellow(star_centres) (Rene)

Description

  Three concentric rings of text, bounded by faint mechanically drawn
  circles. There is no obvious starting place.

  In the centre is a bull-like animal (male, horned), painted red,
  eating from a manger. Below the animal is the word ``May'' in the
  Roman alphabet.

  Between the inner ring of text and the middle ring are 6 human
  figures or "nymphs", each holding a star. Five are standing in a
  barrel, waist deep; a sixth one is peeking from behind the barrel
  at 08:30. All have the right hand inside the barrel, except for
  the small one at 08:30 (right hand behind barrel) and the one at
  02:00 (right hand resting on the barrel's edge). The figure inside
  the 08:30 barrel is holding a smaller star, lower and closer to
  her than the other figures.

  Between the middle ring and the outer ring are 10 human figures,
  standing.  The one at 00:00 is in frontal view, all others are 
  in 3/4 view, between frontal and facing clockwise.  The one at 
  02:30 has the right arm straight back and down; all the others
  have the right hand on their hips.

  All the figures are naked. Most have visible breasts. Some have
  hats, some have long hair.

  Clockwise from each figure there is a short label.

  Rene [07 Apr 1999] observes that this folio is all curled up.
  Also, that no color was applied to this page, except for the 
  animal and the star centres (yellow).

Comments

  The general appearance of the page is dark, in contrast to the
  light Taurus, f71v.

  The animal at the center is probably a bull, the astrological
  symbol for Taurus. Taurus is April 20th to May 20th.

  [Stolfi] I count 16 nymphs in this page, but other people give the
  total as 15. Presumably they are not counting the smaller nymph
  without barrel.

  It looks as if the artist decided to add one more figure at the
  last minute, and had to improvise...

References

[f71v]  [index]  [f72r2]