Edith Sherwood Ph.D.

Voynich Manuscript: was the author left-handed?

Figure 7 Back to Article
Figure 7 - Sun, Moon, and Stars from Dante's Divine Comedy

Dr. Robert O’Neill suggests that the images of the sun, moon and star used on 15th century Tarot cards, were probably copied from 14th century woodcuts used to illustrate Dante’s Divine Comedy. Dante wrote the book between the years 1308-1321. It has many illustrations that may be the source of the symbols used for the sun, moon and star Tarot cards. In fact as Figure 7 shows, drawings of the moon used in Dante’s Divine Comedy are even closer to the images used for the VM and Afro-Portuguese horn No.101 than those used on early moon Tarot cards.