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Illuminated Manuscripts & Historiated Initials. The Middle Ages. The Middle Ages are commonly referred to as the medieval period . The European Middle Ages are normally thought of as being the time period of 400 A.D. to 1500 A.D.
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The Middle Ages • The Middle Ages are commonly referred to as the medieval period. The European Middle Ages are normally thought of as being the time period of 400 A.D. to 1500 A.D.
The term Middle Ages was invented by people during the Renaissance, a period of cultural and literary change in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The term was not meant as a compliment. During the Renaissance, people thought that their own age and the time of ancient Greece and Rome were advanced and civilized. They called the period between themselves and the ancient world 'the Middle Age.'
What is an Illuminated Manuscript? • Illuminated manuscripts are handwritten books decorated with gold or silver, brilliant colours, elaborate designs, decorated letters, borders and miniature painted scenes.Manuscripts contain most of the finest surviving examples of medieval painting. In the strictest definition of the term, an illuminated manuscript only refers to manuscripts decorated with gold or silver. However, the term is now used to refer to any decorated manuscript.
What were they used for? • Illuminated manuscripts were considered sacred objects containing the word of God. They were decorated lavishly so their outward beauty would reflect their sublime contents. • Most illuminated manuscripts were made for churches or monasteries. But many wealthy people also owned their own illuminated prayer books. These books were small enough to carry in a pocket for travel. • Until printing was developed in the fifteenth century, these manuscripts were the only form of books in existence, preserving religious teachings.
Who made them? • Illuminated manuscripts were made by monks in secluded monasteries throughout Europe.
How were they made? • Manuscripts were most often written on parchment (skin of a sheep or goat prepared for writing on) and covered in leather.
Illuminated lettering in a Latin Bible of 1407AD. It was hand written in Belgium, by Gerard Brils, for reading aloud in a monastery.
What is a historiated initial? • An historiated initialis an oversized initial letter containing an identifiable narrative scene or figures, sometimes relating to the text. Historiated initials first appeared in manuscripts of the early 800s and remained popular throughout the Middle Ages.
The historiated initial is a capital letter P since the letters following are ETRUS, making the word PETRUS (Peter in Latin).
Historiated initial from a manuscript of Books XXI-XXX of Livy's History of Rome. Produced in Italy in the fifteenth century
Historiated initial from a manuscript of De consolatione philosophiae of Boethius. Produced in Italy, 1385.
This is a beautiful, historiated initial (the letter “O”) from the beginning of Song of Songs in a twelfth-century Latin Bible.
What is the Book of Kells? • The Book of Kells is one of the most famous books in the history of the world and was completed in about 800 AD. • The vellum (calfskin) manuscript contains transcriptions of the four Gospels, lavishly illustrated and ornamented. It is the most elaborate manuscript of its kind to survive from the early Middle Ages. • The scribes and artists who created the Book were Columban monks who lived in a monastery on the remote island of Iona, off the west coast of Scotland. The monastery was founded late in the sixth century by an Irish monk, St Colm Cille. • The Book of Kells contains 680 pages. Just two of the pages are without ornament, while about thirty folios, including some major decorated pages, have been lost.
