Illuminated manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript, often of a religious nature, in which the text is supplemented by the addition of colourful ornamentation, such as decorated initials, borders and the like. Motifs used in illumination are frequently taken from heraldry or religious symbolism.

Techniques

A 13th century manuscript illumination, the earliest known depiction of Thomas � Becket's assassination

Illumination was a complex and frequently costly process. As such, it was usually reserved for special books: an altar Bible, for example. Wealthy folk 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 vellum, animal hides specially prepared for writing, were cut down to the appropriate size. After the general layout of the page was planned (eg 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.

The script used depended on local customs and tastes. The sturdy Roman letters of the early Dark 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 Gothic script was first seen around the 13th century and was particularly popular in the later Middle Ages.

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 (possibly with the aid of pinpricks or other markings, as in the case of the Lindisfarne Gospels).

Paints

The medi�val artist's palette was surprisingly broad:

Color	Source(s)
Red	Cinnabar in its natural mineral form or synthesized (also called vermillion, mercuric sulphide); "red lead" or minium (Pb₃O₄); insect-based colors such as cochineal and kermes; iron oxide-rich earth compounds
Yellow	Plant-based colors, such as saffron; yellow earth colors (ochre); orpiment (As₂S₃, Arsenic Sulfide)
Green	Plant-based compounds such as buckthorn berries; copper compounds such as verdigris and malachite
Blue	Ultramarine (made from the mineral 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 lamp black, charcoal, or burnt bones or ivory; sepia; iron 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 above; tin leaf

Famous illuminated manuscripts