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Re: VMs: Re: "Dark painter" question...?
Thank you Nick.
In contrast to the relatively poor quality of the coloring in, I do sense
much more care, for instance, in the painting of f88r.
Regards,
Dana Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nick Pelling" <incoming@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <vms-list@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, February 29, 2004 11:14 AM
Subject: Re: VMs: Re: "Dark painter" question...?
> Hi Dana,
>
> At 10:51 29/02/2004 -0700, you wrote:
> >Where did you first come across the 'Dark Painter'? Thanks.
>
> Jorge Stolfi's message from 11 Dec 1999 (pasted below).
>
> Cheers, .....Nick Pelling.....
>
> * * * * * * *
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> Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 13:58:30 -0200 (EDT)
> Message-Id: <199912111558.NAA08535@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> From: Jorge Stolfi <stolfi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: voynich@xxxxxxxx
> Subject: VMS colors
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>
> The new Beinecke images left me more convinced that ever that
> most of the VMs colors are apocryphal and bogus.
>
> Granted that the VMS author was not exactly an artist, but he
> obviously had good control of the pen. I would expect him to be at
> least as accurate with the paintbrush. Yet the paint hardly follows
> the figure's outline, especially in roots and complicated leaves. The
> green of water in the biological pages (f74r,f78r,f82r) was applied
> with a crayon or pen, resulting in an ugly streaked texture. Ditto for
> the leaves of the sunflower on f33v.
>
> Looking closely at f47r, one can see the faint outlines of the leaves,
> drawn in ink under the gree paint. I can't believe that the author,
> after having gone to the troble of drawing the individual leaves,
> would cover them up, just like that.
>
> On page f11r, only *some* of the leaves are painted (carelessly, as
> usual). Such checkerboard painting can be seen in many other pages,
> even in the B&W copies --- e.g. on the scalloped things of f78r and
> f82r. Obviously the goal of the painter was not realism, but
> aesthetics --- a very childish kind of aesthetics.
>
> Page f68v2 (which is labeled f68r in the gallery) has a central star
> painted golden yellow, surrounded by a solid dark blue star, with many
> yellow stars around it. You will notice that one of the stars in the
> 03:00 sector is green, and half a dozen stars clockwise of it
> gradually change from green to yellow. To me, that can only be the
> result of an impropely cleaned brush --- again, very childish mistake.
>
> I have mentioned previously the red leaves and blue-green flower
> of f16v, a color choice that could well be the result of a childish
> mistake. Along the same lines, we have the blue hair of two nymphs
> on f78r.
>
> I cannot avoid concluding that the painter was not author, and did not
> care much for the meaning of the illustrations. Most likely, some
> child used the VMs as a coloring book --- an accident that apparently
> also happened to the Fuchs herbal whose URL was posted some time ago.
> Or, perhaps, some "ignorant owner" of the VMs had the book colorized
> in order to enhance its market value.
>
> A few of the colors may be original, though. The deep red of f67r2
> (the "planets" page), which is used also in the text and labels, is
> probably original. In the herbal and pharma pictures, I can see a
> faint yellow-brown paint (diluted writing ink?) applied to stems and
> roots, in a fairly careful manner (compare for instance the two roots
> at the top right of page f88r.
>
> The bottom pond of f83v seems to have been overlooked by the "dark
> painter", and may give us a glimpse of what the book looked like
> originally. In particular, the water is uncolored, and the nymphs'
> outlines can be seen more clearly. On the other hand, the red lips and
> rosy cheeks seem to be there. Unfortunately, the Beinecke reproduction
> of that page has low contrast and distorted colors, and I can't tell
> whether the crowns/hair/showercaps are yellow, as in other pictures.
>
> All the best,
>
> - --stolfi
>
>
>
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