Illuminated manuscript: Difference between revisions

The earliest surviving illuminated manuscripts are a small number from [[late antiquity]], and date from between 400 and 600. Examples include the [[Vergilius Romanus]], [[Vergilius Vaticanus]], and the [[Rossano Gospels]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weitzmann |first=Kurt |title=Late Antique and Early Christian book illumination |date=1977 |publisher=Chatto & Windus |isbn=978-0-7011-2243-0 |location=London}}</ref> The majority of extant manuscripts are from the [[Middle Ages]], although many survive from the [[Renaissance]]. While [[Islamic manuscripts]] can also be called illuminated and use essentially the same techniques, comparable Far Eastern and Mesoamerican works are described as ''painted''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=S&#238 |firstauthor=Laura |last2=RomanescuSînziana |first2=nzianaCuciuc CuciucRomanescu |date=2020 |title=ILLUMINATED PAGES. A MIDDLE AGES TRIP IN THE FIELD OF COLOR |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=941065 |journal=Revista Rom&#226;nă de Studii Eurasiatice |language=English |volume=16 |issue=1-21–2 |pages=7–18 |issn=1841-477X}}</ref>

Most manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on [[parchment]] until the 2nd century BCE,<ref>{{Citation |last=Herodotus |editor-first1=Robin |editor-first2=Carolyn |editor-last1=Waterfield |editor-last2=Dewald |title=Histories |date=1998-03-05 |work=Oxford World's Classics: Herodotus: The Histories |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00271233 |access-date=2024-12-12 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/oseo/instance.00271233 |isbn=978-0-19-953566-8}}</ref> when a more refined material called [[vellum]], made from stretched calf skin, was supposedly introduced by King [[Eumenes II|Eumenes]] II of [[Pergamum]]. This gradually became the standard for luxury illuminated manuscripts,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davenport |first=Cyril |date=1912 |title=Illuminated Manuscripts |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41339989 |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Arts |volume=60 |issue=3087 |pages=245–251 |jstor=41339989 |issn=0035-9114}}</ref> although modern scholars are often reluctant to distinguish between parchment and vellum, and the skins of various animals might be used. The pages were then normally bound into codices (singular: [[codex]]), that is the usual modern book format, although sometimes the older [[scroll]] format was used, for various reasons. A very few illuminated fragments also survive on [[papyrus]]. Books ranged in size from ones smaller than a modern paperback, such as the [[pocket gospel]], to very large ones such as [[choirbook]]s for choirs to sing from, and "Atlantic" bibles, requiring more than one person to lift them.<ref name="DeHamel2001">{{Cite book |last=De Hamel |first=Christopher |title=The British Library guide to manuscript illumination: History and techniques |date=2001 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-8173-5 |location=Toronto}}</ref>

Styles and techniques of manuscript illumination varied by region, and there were distinct differences in aspects like color palette, decoration style, and peak periods of output. Certain places like the Celtic regions specialized in more ornamental details in contrast to the Byzantine pictorial designs, and regions such as Flanders were more prolific in manuscript production much later than other places.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Davenport |first=Cyril |date=1912 |title=Illuminated Manuscripts |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41339989?seq=3 |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Arts |volume=60 |issue=3087 |pages=245–251 |jstor=41339989 |issn=0035-9114}}</ref>

Illumination was a complex and costly process, and was therefore usually reserved for special books such as altar bibles, or books for royalty. Heavily illuminated manuscripts are often called "luxury manuscripts" for this reason. In the early Middle Ages, most books were produced in monasteries, whether for their own use, for presentation, or for a commission. These monks would work as a collective group to sponsersponsor the patronage of a manuscript, but that in turn shielded their identites somewhat from history: there are more numerous surviving signatures on works from the scibe and less from the illustrations, but often there is simply the signature of the patron monastery.<ref name="Kauffmann2018" /> However, commercial [[Scriptorium|scriptoria]] grew up in large cities, especially [[School of Paris|Paris]], and in Italy and the Netherlands, and by the late 14th 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). By the end of the period, many of the painters were women, especially painting the elaborate borders, and perhaps especially in Paris.

The illumination and decoration was normally planned at the inception of the work, and space reserved for it.<ref name=":5" /> However, the text was usually written before illumination began. In the Early Medieval period the text and illumination were often done by the same people, normally monks, but by the [[High Middle Ages]] the roles were typically separated, except for routine initials and flourishes, and by at least the 14th century there were secular workshops producing manuscripts, and by the beginning of the 15th century these were producing most of the best work, and were commissioned even by monasteries. 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 or drawn onto the vellum (possibly with the aid of pinpricks or other markings, as in the case of the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]]). Many incomplete manuscripts survive from most periods, giving us a good idea of working methods.

While the use of gold is by far one of the most captivating features of illuminated manuscripts, the bold use of varying colors provided multiple layers of dimension to the illumination. From a religious perspective, "the diverse colors wherewith the book is illustrated, not unworthily represent the multiple grace of heavenly wisdom."<ref name="Putnam"/> There is evidence of illustratiors planning out color choice in advance, which indicates purposeful choice and design in the finished product.<ref name="Kauffmann2018" /> There is also a great deal of nuance when it comes to the colors and painting of manuscripts. Illuminators would be trained in color combinations and stylistic distinctions by a form of apprenticeship, so the limited number of primary literary sources discussing colors and techniques may not be accurate to what the actual illuminators learned and followed.<ref name=":5" />

The color red was often associated with imagery like blood, fire, and godly power.<ref name=":002">{{Cite web |title=Colour and Meaning |url=https://colour-illuminated.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/explore/colour-and-meaning#:~:text=Green%20signalled%20new%20life,%20Eden,the%20unusual%20and%20potentially%20dangerous. |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=COLOUR: The Art and Science of Illuminated Manuscripts |language=en}}</ref> It was the most common and inexpensive color and as such was frequently used for initials, lettering, and borders and well as general imagery.<ref name=":222">{{Cite web |title=Decoration and illumination - The University of Nottingham |url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/researchguidance/medievalbooks/decorationandillumination.aspx#:~:text=It%20was%20used%20to%20enhance,delicate%20and%20highly%20skilled%20process. |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=www.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Citation |last=Morgan |first=Nigal |title=Illumination – pigments, drawing and gilding |date=2008-03-27 |work=The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain |pages=84–95 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/chol9780521782180.008 |access-date=2024-12-12 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/chol9780521782180.008 |isbn=978-1-139-05420-1}}</ref>

Yellow was often blended with other pigments in order to create natural earth tones, of which were common in medieval manuscript illumination.<ref name=":4" /> Yellow paint would also be layered underneath gold paint in order to create a multilayered gold effect.<ref name=":4" />

Green was oftena associatedrelavetly withrare visualspigment related toon the Gardenilluminator's of Eden and symbolized rebirthpalette.<ref name=":024" />{{Cite webIt |title=Colourwas andused Meaningfor landscapes |url=https://colour-illuminated.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/explore/colour-and-meaning#:~:text=Green%20signalled%20new%20life,%20Eden,the%20unusual%20and%20potentially%20dangerous. |access-date=2024-10-26was |website=COLOUR:often Theassociated Artwith andvisuals Sciencerelated to the Garden of IlluminatedEden Manuscriptsand |language=en}}rebirth.</ref name=":02"/> Verdigris Green was a specific shade almost exclusively used in cross imagery, and Green Earth was used under other pigments in order to create depth to skin tones.<ref name=":3" />

Blue, especially the pigment ultramarine, was a valuable and rare color and was commonly used in depictions of the Virgin Mary and for the clothing of important religious figures.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Phenix |firstfirst1=Alan |last2=Roy |first2=Ashok |date=February 1995-02 |title=Artists' Pigments: A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Volume 2 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/1506614 |journal=Studies in Conservation |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=69 |doi=10.2307/1506614 |jstor=1506614 |issn=0039-3630}}</ref> Less expensive or poorer quality blue pigments were sometimes used for initials, lettering, and borders.<ref name=":22"/>{{Cite<ref web |titlename=Decoration and illumination - The University of Nottingham |url=https":5"//www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/researchguidance/medievalbooks/decorationandillumination.aspx#:~:text=It%20was%20used%20to%20enhance,delicate%20and%20highly%20skilled%20process. |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=www.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref>

White was used often in association with religious objects or figures, and was also used as an underpigment as to provide a base for other colors and provide depth, notably in instances of combination with blues to create skies and with reds to create different skin tones. <ref name=":3" /> White was also used, especially in the Gothic period, to outline figures and to providecreate visuallayered emphasishighlights.<ref name="Kauffmann2018" /><ref name=":5" />

Silver would be used for lettering in a similar fashion to gold, to provide shine and beauty to the page. <ref name=":4" />

MonasteriesAt least in earlier periods, monasteries were the biggest manufacturer'smanufacturers of illuminated manuscripts. They produced manuscripts for their own use; heavily illuminated ones tended to be reserved for liturgical use in the early period, while the monastery library held plainer texts. In the early period manuscripts were often commissioned by rulers for their own personal use or as diplomatic gifts, and many old manuscripts continued to be given in this way, even into the [[Early Modern]] period.<ref name="Kauffmann2018" /> Especially after the book of hours became popular, wealthy individuals commissioned works as a sign of status within the community, sometimes including [[donor portrait]]s or [[heraldry]]: "In a scene from the New Testament, Christ would be shown larger than an apostle, who would be bigger than a mere bystander in the picture, while the humble donor of the painting or the artist himself might appear as a tiny figure in the corner."<ref name="DeHamel2001"/> The calendar was also personalized, recording the feast days of local or family saints. By the end of the Middle Ages many manuscripts were produced for distribution through a network of agents, and blank spaces might be reserved for the appropriate heraldry to be added locally by the buyer.

File:Heikenoukyou.jpg|[[Heike Nokyo|Heike Noukyou]], 1164-11671164–1167, from [[Itsukushima]], [[Japan]]; [[Itsukushima Shrine|Itsukushima Jinja]]

File:Handwritten Guru Granth Sahib manuscript kept at Gurdwara Mattan Sahib in Martand, Kashmir, India 04.jpg|Example of an elaborately decorated border of a [[Sikhs|Sikh]] illuminated manuscript from a 17th -century [[Guru Granth Sahib]] manuscript kept at Gurdwara Mattan Sahib in [[Mattan, Jammu and Kashmir|Martand]], Kashmir, India. It is known as the ''Sunehri'' ''bir'' (golden corpus)