VMs: Re: V-shaped battlements

[Nick Pelling <incoming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Rafal,

> > - almost all swallow tail castles (with two exceptions) have square towers,
> > not round ones,
> > - none (none!) of the castles with swallow tail towers also has "lightning
> > conductor" style towers.
>
> Except for the Kremlin in Moscow - as I pointed out earlier and it seems
> to have gone unnoticed. It was built by Italian architects in the 15th
> c.,
> has round towers with lightning conductors, etc. So why should it be
> excluded? Besides, I have always felt there is something vaguely
> Byzantine/Russian about the VMS ornaments.
>
> Here is a nice site about the Kremlin with a number of photographs,
> showing the towers and dove/swallow-tail battlements:
>
>     http://www.stanford.edu/dept/CREES/kremlin/fortress.html

Well, I for one certainly noticed it! :-)   Also supporting this notion:
(1) the short stumpy towers depicted are certainly reminiscent of the short 
stumpy towers dotted around the 9-rosette page
(2) the water-pumping tower is also reminiscent of the filaretian 
multi-stage tower on the 9-rosette page (Petr's scan is the clearest I've 
seen for this).

Incidentally, while we're on an Eastern European theme, perhaps I should 
mention an obscure (but non-verified) herbal I've seen referred to (though 
I can't find the reference, sorry), dating to after Caterina Sforza but 
before Isabella Cortese... that of Bona Sforza, who married the Polish king 
Zygmunt I. When she moved from Italy to Poland, she is reputed to have 
brought many herbs and vegetables with her (eg, in Poland, soup-greens are 
called "Italian vegetables" in her honour).

        http://www.lehigh.edu/~jahb/herbs/easterneuropeherbs.html

However, despite her importance at the time, there appears to be little of 
historical substance on her herbal connection - perhaps this would be an 
interesting research lead for someone to follow?

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