Illuminated manuscript
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Overview
An
illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration or illustration, such as decorated
initials, borders and miniatures. In the strictest definition of the term, an illuminated manuscript only refers to manuscripts decorated with gold or silver. However, in both common usage and modern scholarship, the term is now used to refer to any decorated manuscript.
The earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period AD 400 to 600, primarily produced in
Ireland,
Italy and other locations on the European continent. The meaning of these works lies not only in their inherent art history value, but in the maintenance of a link of literacy. Had it not been for the scribes of late
antiquity, the entire content of western heritage literature from
Greece and
Rome could have perished. The very existence of illuminated manuscripts as a way of giving stature and commemoration to ancient documents may have been largely responsible for their preservation in an era when barbarian hordes had overrun continental
Europe.
The majority of surviving manuscripts are from the
Middle Ages, although many illuminated manuscripts survive from the 15th century
Renaissance, along with a very limited number from late
antiquity. The majority of these manuscripts are of a religious nature. However, especially from
13th century onward, an increasing number of secular texts were illuminated. Most illuminated manuscripts were created as
codices, although many illuminated manuscripts were rolls or single sheets. A very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive on
papyrus. Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on
parchment or
vellum . Beginning in the late Middle Ages manuscripts began to be produced on
paper.
Illuminated manuscripts are the most common item to survive from the Middle Ages. They are also the best surviving specimens of medieval
painting. Indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting.
For a list of illuminated manuscripts see list of illuminated manuscripts.
Techniques
Illumination was a complex and frequently costly process. As such, it was usually reserved for special books: an altar Bible, for example. Wealthy people often had richly illuminated "
books of hours" made, which set down prayers appropriate for various times in the liturgical day.
Text
In the making of an illuminated manuscript, the text was usually written first. Sheets of
parchment or
vellum, animal hides specially prepared for writing, were cut down to the appropriate size. After the general layout of the page was planned , the page was lightly ruled with a pointed stick, and the scribe went to work with ink-pot and either sharpened
quill feather or reed pen.
The script depended on local customs and tastes. The sturdy Roman letters of the early
Middle Ages gradually gave way to cursive scripts such as
Uncial and half-Uncial, especially in the
British Isles, where distinctive scripts such as
insular majuscule and
insular minuscule developed. Stocky, richly textured
blackletter was first seen around the
13th century and was particularly popular in the later
Middle Ages.
Classifications
Art historians classify illuminated manuscripts into their historic periods and types, including :
Insular script,
Carolingian manuscripts, Ottonian manuscripts, Romanesque manuscripts and
Gothic manuscripts. See
Medieval art for other regions, periods and types.
Images
When the text was complete, the illustrator set to work. Complex designs were planned out beforehand, probably on wax tablets, the sketch pad of the era. The design was then traced onto the vellum . Usually the painter would paint things relating to their family life. For example one man drew himself eating twenty-five pancakes at one sitting. But most commonly, people would draw embarrasing moments from their lives like if they had passed gas in public. Illuminated manuscripts are hard to do but look well once done.
Paints
The medieval artist's palette was surprisingly broad:
| Colour | Source |
|---|
| Red | Mercury sulfide , often called cinnabar or vermilion, in its natural mineral form or synthesized; "red lead" or minium ; insect-based colors such as cochineal ,kermes and lac; rust or iron oxide-rich earth compounds |
|---|
| Yellow | Plant-based colors, such as weld, turmeric or saffron; yellow earth colors ; orpiment |
|---|
| Green | Plant-based compounds such as buckthorn berries; copper compounds such as verdigris and malachite |
|---|
| Blue | Ultramarine ; azurite; smalt; plant-based substances such as woad, indigo, and folium or turnsole |
|---|
| White | Lead white ; chalk |
|---|
| Black | Carbon, from sources such as lampblack, charcoal, or burnt bones or ivory; sepia; iron gall |
|---|
| Gold | Gold, in leaf form or powdered and bound in gum arabic or egg |
|---|
| Silver | Silver, either silver leaf or powdered, as with gold; tin leaf |
|---|
Gallery
See also
- List of Hiberno-Saxon illustrated manuscripts
- Gospel Book
- English Apocalypse Manuscripts
- Gallery of illuminated manuscript images
- Saint John's Bible
External links
-
- Digitized illuminated manuscripts from the Dutch Royal Library
- Brown, Michelle , , adapted from Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms, ISBN 0-89236-217-0
- Herbert, J. A. , , online book.
- Ross, Nancy, .
- . 12th – 16th century.
- . Several hundred digitized illuminated texts from French national library collections.
- . Thousands of digital images from the Morgan Library's renowned collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts
- : an illuminated Bible project currently underway
- Revitalizing the fine art of illumination as a tool for peace and understanding.
