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| The Craft of Illumination in Art |
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An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniature illustrations. In the strictest definition of the term, an illuminated manuscript only refers to manuscripts decorated with gold or silver. However, in both common usage and modern scholarship, the term is now used to refer to any decorated or illustrated manuscript from the Western or Islamic traditions - comparable Far Eastern works are always described as painted.
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In the making of an illuminated manuscript, the text is usually written first. Sheets of parchment or vellum, animal hides specially prepared for writing, are cut down to the appropriate size. After the general layout of the page is planned (e.g., initial capital, borders), the page is lightly ruled with a pointed stick, and the scribe goes to work with ink-pot and either sharpened quill feather or reed pen.
The script depends on local customs and tastes. The sturdy Roman letters of the early Middle ages gradually gave way to scripts such as Unicialand half-Uncial. Stocky, richly textured Blackletter was first seen around the 13th century and was particularly popular in the later Middle Ages.
Max gives classes in Manuscript Illumination in Bayonne
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"After drawing with a quill the gilding is performed by applying 23.6 crt gold leaf and silver plating with pure palladium to the parchement. Colours, pastes and watercolors are based on natural pigments. Drawings, Manuscripts and Crest designs are done on parchment (lambskin), wood or other materials".
Max Roger Guéguen.
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| Original 25cm x 25cm |
Detail - corners |
Detail - Main section |
Fine detail |
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