Saturday, December 20, 2008

Christmas Through Illuminated Manuscripts



If you enjoy illuminated manuscripts, check out Christmas: Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts. At the Getty Museum site, there's Making of a Medieval Book.

From a bishop's note to monk copyists at Durham Cathedral (reference):

"You write with the pen of memory on the parchment of pure conscience, scraped by the knife of Divine fear, smoothed by the pumice of heavenly desires, and whitened by the chalk of holy thoughts. The ruler is the Will of God. The split nib is the joint love of God and our neighbor. Coloured inks are heavenly grace. The exemplar is the life of Christ."

Pages were made from stretched animal skins and the feathers of geese or swans were used as quills. Illumination (from Latin illuminaire, to light up)came from burnishing gold leaf (coins hammered and flaked) into figures outlined with leadpoint. Paints were made from mineral and plant extracts as well as chemical reactions.

Finished manuscripts were sewn together and bound in leather, wood, or decorative fabric.


Merry Christmas!

Classical School Blog: Do-It-Yourself Illuminated Manuscripts and Monks Day