VMs: Re: My VMS research plan (1)

[Nick Pelling <incoming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Petr,

Have you seen my postings from earlier this year on the 3x3 rosette diagram?

**** Jim R, have the VMS archives got a current home on the web? I have 
plenty of web-space available if they need a temporary home. *****

> Task:
> Make an annotated "atlas" of the large 3*3 foldout page that is
> reproduced in Kraus. (f85v2, f86r4, f86r6, f85v1, f86r3, f86r5)

Good research direction!

Here's one possibly tantalising idea: if you look at the circle 
anti-clockwise from the castle, you'll see regular sets of what look like 
double-quotes. I suspect that these are staging-posts or distance markings 
between the two towns indicated at 12 o'clock (the castle) and 9 o'clock 
(the lighthouse).

In Northern Italy circa 1500, was there a standard unit of distance for 
travelling between towns? If so, what was it & how standard was it? 
:-)  This may give an indication of how to translate the diagram into a 
testable map format... which would be nice. :-)

Also note that there's another faded tower between the above two (at about 
10.45) - but this is incredibly hard to pick up on.

For me, the really frustrating thing about the castle is the scrubbed-out 
writing behind it - perhaps it was erased for a reason...

A hi-res scan of that particular section would be rather special - but it 
won't come from the Beinecke anytime soon. The 3x3 diagram pages are 
rolling up badly, and are (presumably) one of the things that the Beinecke 
plan to sort out in their upcoming restoration.

> The castles have been discussed and located extensively.

Unfortunately, this isn't true! :-(

My personal belief is that the castle is almost certainly Rocca Sforzesca 
in Imola, depicted sometime between 1474 and 1499: this is based on its 
square layout, swallow-tail merlons, square central tower, and two external 
rivellins on adjacent sides (such rivellins quickly went out of fashion, 
because they didn't achieve anything, apart from giving the enemy engineers 
obvious targets to blow up first).

However, this is by no means a *proof* - other castles could well have had 
the same structure, and the VMS castle has (what appears to be) an 
additional pointed wooden roof, which differs from all the images in the 
official book [*], which the Museum were kind enough to send me.

When Cesare Borgia besieged the Rocca (1499-1500), IIRC it may have been 
set on fire - and so any wooden roof would (quite possibly) have been 
destroyed.

I've asked the Musei Civici in Imola to find out if any supports for such a 
roof are still intact in the tower in the Rocca - if this does prove to be 
true (despite nobody having previously noticed it), this would be a strong 
predictive win for my theory... but it hasn't happened yet (ie, don't hold 
your breath). :-/

[*] La Rocca  2. Architettura e storia dell'edificio. Musei Civici di 
Imola. (2001)

> But there must be much more in the archive.

I presume that you've already seen the element-by-element page-descriptions 
in (for example) the 1.7MB file "TEXT16E6.EVT"?

> I have seen - while not even searching - interesting parallels to the
> "castles" ad to the "abysses". And many parallel avenues have not been
> explored yet - for example: the foldout is full of "decorative"
> repetitive elements. These might be compared with other repetitive
> decorations on - for example - old majolica pottery.

When I emailed the Majolica Society, they were quick to point out to me 
that pre-1700 majolica is more accurately called "maiolica" (with an i). 
Just so you know. :-)

Cheers, .....Nick Pelling.....