An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations. A manuscript is any Document that is Written by hand as opposed to being printed or reproduced in some other way In a written work an initial is a letter at the beginning of a work a Chapter or a Paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, Red lead, is a picture in an ancient or Medieval Illuminated manuscript 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 or illustrated manuscript from the Western or Islamic traditions. Comparable Far Eastern works are always described as painted, as often are Islamic and Mesoamerican works.
The earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period AD 400 to 600 (also in the gothic period), primarily produced in Ireland, Constantinople and Italy. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The significance of these works lies not only in their inherent art history value, but in the maintenance of a link of literacy offered by non-illuminated texts as well. Had it not been for the monastic scribes of Late Antiquity, the entire literature of Greece and Rome would have perished; as it was, the patterns of textual survivals were shaped by their usefulness to the severely constricted literate group of Christians. Monasticism (from Greek μοναχός, monachos, derived from Greek monos, alone is the religious practice in which one Late Antiquity (c 300-600 is a Periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 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 and ruling classes were no longer literate. "Barbarian" is a pejorative term for an uncivilized person either in a general reference to a member of a nation or Ethnos perceived
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 Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Late Antiquity (c 300-600 is a Periodization used by historians to describe the transitional centuries from Classical Antiquity to the Middle Ages, in The majority of these manuscripts are of a religious nature. However, especially from the 13th century onward, an increasing number of secular texts were illuminated. Most illuminated manuscripts were created as codices, which had superseded scrolls; some isolated single sheets survive. A codex ( Latin for block of wood, Book; plural codices) is a book in the format used for modern books with separate pages normally A very few illuminated manuscript fragments survive on papyrus. Papyrus (/pəˈpaɪrəs/ (Rhymes -aɪrəs)is a thick paper-like material produced from the Pith of the papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment (most commonly of calf, sheep, or goat skin), but most manuscripts important enough to illuminate were written on the best quality of parchment, called vellum, traditionally made of unsplit calf skin, though high quality parchment from other skins were also called parchment. Parchment is a thin material made from Calfskin, Sheepskin or goatskin. Vellum (from the Old French Vélin for "calfskin" is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on single pages scrolls codices or books
Beginning in the late Middle Ages manuscripts began to be produced on paper. Paper is thin material mainly used for writing upon printing upon or packaging [1] Very early printed books were sometimes produced with spaces left for rubrics and miniatures, or were given illuminated initials, or decorations in the margin, but the introduction of printing rapidly led to the decline of illumination. A rubric is a word or section of text which is written or printed in Red Ink to highlight it Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century, but in much smaller numbers, mostly for the very wealthy.
Illuminated manuscripts are the most common item to survive from the Middle Ages. In a written work an initial is a letter at the beginning of a work a Chapter or a Paragraph that is larger than the rest of the text They are also the best surviving specimens of medieval painting, and the best preserved. Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e 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. This is a list of Illuminated manuscripts 2nd century Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, cod
Contents |
History
Techniques
Illumination was a complex and frequently costly process. The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, Red lead, is a picture in an ancient or Medieval Illuminated manuscript 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. A book of hours is the most common type of surviving Medieval Illuminated manuscript. A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group according to their particular traditions
In the early Middle Ages, most books were produced in monasteries, whether for their own use, for presentation, or for a commission. However, commercial scriptoria grew up in large cities, especially Paris, and in Italy and the Netherlands, and by the late fourteenth century there was a significant industry producing manuscripts, including agents who would take long-distance commissions, with details of the heraldry of the buyer and the saints of personal interest to him (for the calendar of a Book of hours). School of Paris (École de Paris refers to two distinct groups of artists — a group of medieval manuscript illuminators, and a group of non-French artists working in Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The word Calendar consist of two words 1 Cal ( in Pashto means Year in Hindi and Persian is Sal- also means Year A book of hours is the most common type of surviving Medieval Illuminated manuscript. By the end of the period, many of the painters were women, perhaps especially in Paris.
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. Parchment is a thin material made from Calfskin, Sheepskin or goatskin. Vellum (from the Old French Vélin for "calfskin" is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on single pages scrolls codices or books After the general layout of the page was planned (e. g. , initial capital, borders), 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. Quill is a high level object oriented Programming language created by the Dutch software company Quintiq.
The script depended on local customs and tastes. The sturdy Roman letters of the early Middle Ages gradually gave way to scripts such as Uncial and half-Uncial, especially in the British Isles, where distinctive scripts such as insular majuscule and insular minuscule developed. Uncial is a Majuscule script commonly used from the 3rd to 8th centuries AD by Latin and Greek Scribes From the 8th century to the The British Isles (Irish variously Na hOileáin Bhriotanacha, Oileáin Iarthair Eorpa, Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór; Ellanyn Goaldagh Eileanan Insular script was a medieval script system used in Ireland and Britain (Latin insula, "island" Insular script was a medieval script system used in Ireland and Britain (Latin insula, "island" Stocky, richly textured blackletter was first seen around the 13th century and was particularly popular in the later Middle Ages. Blackletter, also known as Gothic script or Gothic minuscule, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 Palaeography is the study of historical handwritten scripts, and codicology the related study of other physical aspects of manuscript codexes. Palaeography, palæography ( British) or paleography ( American) (from the Greek grc παλαιός palaiós, Codicology (from Latin la ''cōdex'' Genitive la ''cōdicis'' "notebook book" and Greek grc -λογία -logia) is
Classifications
Art historians classify illuminated manuscripts into their historic periods and types, including (but not limited to): Late Antique, Insular, Carolingian manuscripts, Ottonian manuscripts, Romanesque manuscripts, Gothic manuscripts, and Renaissance manuscripts. Insular art, also known as the Hiberno-Saxon style is the style of art produced in the post-Roman history of the British Isles and the term is also used in See also Carolingian architecture Carolingian art is the roughly 120-year period from about AD 780 to 900 &mdash during the reign of See also Ottonian Renaissance, Ottonian architecture In pre-romanesque Germany, the prevailing style was what has come to be known as Ottonian Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century or later depending on region This article is about Gothic art See also Gothic architecture Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that lasted about 200 There are a few examples from later periods. The type of book that was most often heavily and richly illuminated, sometimes known as a "display-book", varied between periods. In the first millennium these were most likely to be Gospel Books. The Gospel Book, or Book of the Gospels ( Greek:, Evangélion) is a Codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels The Romanesque period saw the creation of many huge illuminated complete Bibles - one in Sweden requires three librarians to lift it. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Many Psalters were also heavily illuminated in both this and the Gothic period. A Psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms and which often contains other devotional material Finally, the Book of Hours, very commonly the personal devotional book of a wealthy layperson, was often richly illuminated in the Gothic period. A book of hours is the most common type of surviving Medieval Illuminated manuscript. Other books, both liturgical and not, continued to be illuminated at all periods. The Byzantine world also continued to produce manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas. See Medieval art for other regions, periods and types. Medieval art covers a vast scope of time and place over 1000 years of Art history in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
The Gothic period, which generally saw an increase in production, also saw more secular works such as chronicles and works of literature illuminated. Generally a chronicle (chronica from Greek (from) is a historical account of facts and events in chronological order Wealthy people began to build up personal libraries; Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who probably had the largest personal library of his time in the mid-15th century, is estimated to have had about 600 illuminated manuscripts, whilst a number of his friends and relations had several dozen. Philip the Bold (Philippe le Hardi also Philip II Duke of Burgundy ( January 15, 1342, Pontoise &ndash April 27, 1404 Burgundy (Bourgogne Burgund is a region historically situated in modern-day France and Switzerland, inhabited in turn by Celts ( Gauls)
Images
When the text was complete, the illustrator set to work. An illuminated manuscript is a Manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration such as decorated Initials borders and St Thomas Becket (c 1118 &ndash December 29, 1170) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170 Complex designs were planned out beforehand, probably on wax tablets, the sketch pad of the era. The design was then traced or drawn onto the vellum (possibly with the aid of pinpricks or other markings, as in the case of the Lindisfarne Gospels). The Lindisfarne Gospels is an illuminated Latin manuscript of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John Many incomplete manuscripts survive from most periods, giving us a good idea of working methods.
At all times, most manuscripts did not have images in them. In the early Middle Ages, manuscripts tend to either be display books with very full illumination, or manuscripts for study with at most a few decorated initials. By the Romanesque period many more manuscripts had decorated or historiated initials, and manuscripts essentially for study often contained some images, often not in colour. This trend intensified in the Gothic period, when most manuscripts had at least decorative flourishes in places, and a much larger proportion had images of some sort. Display books of the Gothic period in particular had very elaborate decorated borders of foliate patterns, often with small drolleries. A Gothic page might contain several areas and types of decoration: a miniature in a frame, a historiated initial beginning a passage of text, and a border with drolleries. Often different artists worked on the different parts of the decoration.
Paints
The medieval artist's palette was surprisingly broad:
| Colour | Source(s) |
|---|---|
| Red | Mercury(II) sulfide (HgS), often called cinnabar or vermilion, in its natural mineral form or synthesized; "red lead" or minium (Pb3O4); insect-based colours such as cochineal ,kermes and lac; rust (iron oxide, Fe2O3) or iron oxide-rich earth compounds |
| Yellow | Plant-based colours, such as Weld, turmeric or saffron; yellow earth colours (ochre); orpiment (arsenic sulfide, As2S3) |
| Green | Plant-based compounds such as buckthorn berries; copper compounds such as verdigris and malachite |
| Blue | Ultramarine (made from the rock lapis lazuli); azurite; smalt; plant-based substances such as woad, indigo, and folium or turnsole |
| White | Lead white (also called "flake white", basic lead carbonate (PbCO3)); chalk |
| Black | Carbon, from sources such as lampblack, charcoal, or burnt bones or ivory; sepia; iron and gall |
| Gold | Gold, in leaf form (hammered extremely thin) or powdered and bound in gum arabic or egg (called "shell gold") |
| Silver | Silver, either silver leaf or powdered, as with gold; tin leaf |
Gallery
 An illuminated capital letter P in a Bible of A. Cinnabar, sometimes written cinnabarite, is a name applied to red Mercury(II sulfide ( Hg[[sulfide S]] or native Vermilion, the common Vermilion, sometimes spelled vermillion, when found naturally-occurring is an opaque orangish Red Pigment, used since antiquity originally derived Red lead, also called minium, lead tetroxide or triplumbic tetroxide, is a bright red or orange Crystalline or Amorphous Pigment Red lead, also called minium, lead tetroxide or triplumbic tetroxide, is a bright red or orange Crystalline or Amorphous Pigment Cochineal is the name of both Crimson or Carmine Dye and the cochineal insect ( Dactylopius coccus) a scale Lac is the scarlet resinous secretion of a number of species of Lac-producing insects the most commonly cultivated of which is Kerria lacca. Rust is a general term for a series of Iron oxides, usually red oxides formed by the reaction of Iron with Oxygen in the presence of water or air Altogether there are sixteen known Iron Oxides and oxyhydroxides Altogether there are sixteen known Iron Oxides and oxyhydroxides Turmeric ( Curcuma longa) is a Rhizomatous Herbaceous Perennial plant of the Ginger family Zingiberaceae Saffron ( Kurdish/Persian زَعْفَرَان is a Spice derived from the dried Stigma of the Flower of the saffron crocus ( Crocus sativus Ochre or Ocher (pronounced /'əʊkə(r/ from the Greek ὠχρός yellow is a Color, usually described as golden - Yellow Orpiment, As2S3, is a common Monoclinic Arsenic Sulfide mineral For the genus Hippophae, see Sea-buckthorn. The Buckthorns ( Rhamnus) are a genus (or two genera if Frangula Copper (ˈkɒpɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol Cu (cuprum and Atomic number 29 Verdigris is the common name for the Green coating or Patina formed when Copper, Brass or Bronze is weathered and exposed to Malachite is a carbonate mineral normally known as "copper carbonate" with the formula Cu 2 CO3[[hydroxide Ultramarine is a Blue Pigment consisting primarily of a double Silicate of Aluminium and Sodium with some Sulfides or Azutite may also refer to a blue Green fluorescent protein derivative. Smalt is powdered Glass, colored deep Blue ( Powder blue) using Cobalt, used for dyeing and laundering. Indigo is the Color on the Electromagnetic spectrum between about 420 and 450 nm in Wavelength, placing it between Blue and violet The dyestuff folium or turnsole, prepared from the annual plant Crozophora tinctoria ("dyers' crook carrier" from its use and the Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly Chalk (ʧɔːk is a soft white porous Sedimentary rock, a form of Limestone composed of the Mineral Calcite. Carbon (kɑɹbən is a Chemical element with the symbol C and its Atomic number is 6 Soot (ˈsʊt is a general term that refers to the black impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation Ivory is formed from Dentine and constitutes the bulk of the Teeth and Tusks of animals such as the Elephant, Hippopotamus, Iron gall ink (sometimes iron gall nut ink) is a purple-black ink made from Iron salts and Tannin from vegetable sources Gold (ˈɡoʊld is a Chemical element with the symbol Au (from its Latin name aurum) and Atomic number 79 Gum arabic, a Natural gum also called gum acacia, and chaar gund or char goond (in India is the hardened Sap taken from two species Silver (ˈsɪlvɚ is a Chemical element with the symbol " Ag " (argentum from the Ancient Greek: ἀργήντος - argēntos gen Tin is a Chemical element with the symbol Sn (stannum and Atomic number 50 D. 1407, Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England |  The illuminated letter P in the Malmesbury Bible. Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, was founded as a Benedictine Monastery around 676 by the scholar-poet Etymology The county formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (9th century is named after the former county town of Wilton (itself named after the River Wylye England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The script is blackletter, also known as Gothic script |  Armenian manuscript of 1053. Blackletter, also known as Gothic script or Gothic minuscule, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 The Armenian language (hy հայերեն լեզու hajɛɹɛn lɛzu —, conventional short form) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian Work of Johannes. | |
 A monk-cellarer tasting wine from a barrel while filling a jug. From Li Livres dou Santé by Aldobrandino of Siena (France, late 13th century). |  The Book of Dimma, an 8th century Irish pocket Gospel Book. The Book of Dimma (Dublin Trinity College MSAIV23 is an 8th century Irish pocket Gospel Book originally from the Abbey of Roscrea, founded | .jpg/100px-Bernhard_von_Clairvaux_(Initiale-B).jpg) Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, in a medieval illuminated manuscript. Bernard of Clairvaux, OCist ( 1090 - August 20, 1153) was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian monastic order |
See also
- List of illuminated manuscripts
- Manuscript culture
- List of Hiberno-Saxon illustrated manuscripts
- Gospel Book
- English Apocalypse Manuscripts
- Armenian Illuminated manuscripts
- History of the book
- Preservation of Illuminated Manuscripts
- Anastasia (flourished c 1400, Paris) was a French illuminator of manuscripts. This is a list of Illuminated manuscripts 2nd century Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, cod Manuscript culture refers to the development and use of the Manuscript as a means of storing and disseminating information until the age of Printing. Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts are those Manuscripts made in the British Isles from about 500 CE to about 900 CE in England but later in Ireland The Gospel Book, or Book of the Gospels ( Greek:, Evangélion) is a Codex or bound volume containing one or more of the four Gospels Illustrated Apocalypse manuscripts are Manuscripts that contain the text of Revelation and/or a commentary on Revelation and also illustrations Armenian Illuminated manuscripts form a separate tradition related to other forms of Medieval Armenian art but also to the Byzantine tradition The history of the Book is the story of a suite of technological Innovations that improved the quality of text conservation the access to Information Preserving Parchment becomes more difficult when Pigments, Inks, and illumination are added into the equation Anastasia (flourished c 1400 Paris was a French illuminator of manuscripts.
References
- ^ The untypically early 11th century Missal of Silos is from Spain, near to Muslim paper-mills in Al-Andaluz. The Missal of Silos is the oldest known Paper document created in the Christian West Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or Textual manuscripts on paper become increasingly common, but the more expensive parchment was mostly used for illuminated manuscripts until the end of the period.
External links
Images (mostly)
- Medieval Illuminated Manuscipts Digitized illuminated manuscripts from the Dutch Royal Library
- Project from Cambridge University - coloured numbers are links to good images from various collections; good for finding images of specific subjects quickly
- Illuminated Manuscripts in the J. Paul Getty Museum - Los Angeles
- Illuminating the Manuscript Leaves Digitized illuminated manuscripts from the University of Louisville Libraries
Resources
- British Library, catalogue of illuminated manuscripts
- Collection of illuminated manuscripts. From the Koninklijke Bibliotheek and Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum in The Hague. The Koninklijke Bibliotheek ( Dutch name also known as KB) is the National library of The Netherlands, based in The Hague
- On-line demonstration of the production of an illuminated manuscript from the Fitzwilliam, Cambridge
- On-line demonstration of the production of an illuminated manuscript from the BNF, Paris. Text in French, but mostly visual.
- Ross, Nancy, Resources for English Illuminated Manuscripts.
- British Library, Glossary of Manuscript Terms, adapted from Michelle Brown, Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms (1994), ISBN 0-89236-217-0
- Herbert, J. A. (1911), Illuminated Manuscripts, online book.
- Illuminated Manuscripts',Book by John W. Bradley, from Project Gutenberg
- CORSAIR. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works Thousands of digital images from the Morgan Library's renowned collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts
"Illuminated Manuscripts". The Morgan Library & Museum (formerly The Pierpont Morgan Library) is a museum and research library in New York City. Catholic Encyclopedia. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Modern
- The Saint John's Bible: an illuminated Bible project
- Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation: the art of illumination
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