Website review: Leaves of Gold: Treasures of Manusc...
Someone discovered this in Art History
•2 reviews since Jun 27, 2002
art-history, art
•leavesofgold.org
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Reviews of this website
booklady rated 28 months ago- I want to go!
- megi rated 33 months ago
- luminated manuscripts are hand-produced books that include drawn, painted, and gilded decoration on pages made of vellum, a specially prepared and polished animal skin. The simplest manuscripts are adorned with calligraphic penwork dividing one paragraph of text from another. More lavish examples are embellished with historiated initials, enlarged and colorful letters that contain tiny representations of figures or biblical scenes. The brilliant pictures that illustrate and accompany the texts in a manuscript are called miniatures, not only because they are small, but because the Latin word miniare (to color with red lead) has been used since the Middle Ages to describe these illustrations. The miniatures seen here are painted in luminous colors and often have gold highlights or backgrounds that shimmer in the light. When a miniature contains gold or silver, it is considered to be illuminated. Important divisions in the text of an illuminated manuscript are sometimes decorated with a series of miniatures depicting traditional religious subjects. Some miniatures share the page with text; others fill the page and are surrounded by elaborate borders. A particular pleasure of the close scrutiny of manuscripts is the discovery of tiny figures and whimsical creatures hidden in the marginal decoration. Many different artists and craftsmen were needed to produce each manuscript, including a parchmenter to prepare the vellum, a scribe to copy the text, a rubricator and an illuminator to decorate the manuscript, and a bookbinder to bind the sections together. Historically, illuminated manuscripts were produced by monks in monasteries. Beginning in the thirteenth century, an increasing number were created by professional artisans working in commercial centers across Europe. Leaves of Gold is organised into five sections that highlight several major types of medieval books: Bibles, Psalters, Books of Hours, Liturgical Manuscripts, and Literary Texts.
