Chapter Four - Illuminated Manuscripts

Illuminated manuscripts are written books, produced from the late Roman Empire until printed books using a printing press replaced manuscripts in around 1450AD.The creation of these manuscripts was costly and time-consuming. It took hours to start by creating parchment or vellum, then to mix colors from a variety of mineral, animal, and vegetable matter. The most interesting color creation by far is that of deep blue. Created using a precious mineral only mined in Afghanistan it was made from lapis lazuli. I find this extremely interesting when looking at paintings and manuscripts containing this color, think how much that blue is worth! Gold and silver (less used) was then applied. Books were bound between two wooden boards covered in leather and then decorated with precious gems, ivory, or metal-work designs.

When it came to the production of an acual manuscript all work began in the monastic scriptorium, also known as the 'writing room.' The head of the scriptorium was the scrittori who understood both Greak and Latin and fuctioned as editor and art director. The copisti was the production letterer, who was trained in lettering style. The illusminator, or illustrator, was an artist responsible for the decoration or visual support of the text.

What I found most intresting in this chapter was the colophon or an inscription at the end of a manuscript containing facts about its production. The most intresting quote that the book is the one from a scribed named George who states "As the sailor longs for a safe haven at the end of his voyage, so does the writer for the last word." This illustrates how hard the production of a manuscript was!

With the creation of punctuation (early 19th century) it became some what of more of a musical notation to denote pauses and pitch changes for chants. With the adaptation of Arabic numerals, musical notation became one of the leading contributions of this modern form of graphic design.

The rest of the chaper discusses the evolution of illuminated text, and the various kinds, as well as Charlamaines influence on the modern alphabet.

The only questions I had from this chapter really delt with the colors that they used! I want to know the diffrent materals exactly used, how they were prepared, and what the final product was? I think that experaning this traditional way of paint making would be tons of fun!