74-535: The Lambeth Bible is a 12th-century illuminated manuscript (perhaps produced circa 1150–1170), among the finest surviving giant Bibles from Romanesque England. It exists in two volumes; the first is in Lambeth Palace Library (MS 3), where it has been housed since the library's establishment in 1610, as verified by Archbishop Bancroft's manuscript catalogue. This volume covers Genesis to Job on 328 leaves of vellum measuring circa 520 x 355 mm;
148-440: A reed pen . In the case of manuscripts that were sold commercially, the writing would "undoubtedly have been discussed initially between the patron and the scribe (or the scribe's agent, but by the time the written gathering were sent off to the illuminator, there was no longer any scope for innovation.) The sturdy Roman letters of the early Middle Ages gradually gave way to scripts such as Uncial and half-Uncial, especially in
222-412: A barometer of status with the manuscript was degraded". During this time period the price of gold had become so cheap that its inclusion in an illuminated manuscript accounted for only a tenth of the cost of production. By adding richness and depth to the manuscript, the use of gold in illuminations created pieces of art that are still valued today. The application of gold leaf or dust to an illumination
296-522: A border. The top section depicts Abraham's philoxenia, also known as the Hospitality of Abraham, where three angels visit Abraham and Sarah. In the bottom section, the author portrays Jacob's Dream with the ladder to heaven running diagonally across the picture plane, dividing the bottom section into two subsections. In the bottom left corner, Jacob is shown anointing the stone above a second image of him falling asleep, next to which Jacob's ladder divides
370-519: A commission. However, commercial scriptoria grew up in large cities, especially Paris , and in Italy and the Netherlands, and by the late 14th century there was a significant industry producing manuscripts, including agents who would take long-distance commissions, with details of the heraldry of the buyer and the saints of personal interest to him (for the calendar of a book of hours). By the end of
444-600: A few examples from later periods. Books that are heavily and richly illuminated are sometimes known as "display books" in church contexts, or "luxury manuscripts", especially if secular works. In the first millennium, these were most likely to be Gospel Books , such as the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells . The Book of Kells is the most widely recognized illuminated manuscript in the Anglosphere , and
518-422: A format dominated by huge ornamented capitals that descended from uncial forms or by illustrations". To prevent such poorly made manuscripts and illuminations from occurring, a script was typically supplied first, "and blank spaces were left for the decoration. This presupposes very careful planning by the scribe even before he put pen to parchment." The following steps outline the detailed labor involved to create
592-426: A miniature in a frame, a historiated initial beginning a passage of text, and a border with drolleries. Often different artists worked on the different parts of the decoration. While the use of gold is by far one of the most captivating features of illuminated manuscripts, the bold use of varying colors provided multiple layers of dimension to the illumination. From a religious perspective, "the diverse colors wherewith
666-401: A number of his friends and relations had several dozen. Wealthy patrons, however, could have personal prayer books made especially for them, usually in the form of richly illuminated " books of hours ", which set down prayers appropriate for various times in the liturgical day . One of the best known examples is the extravagant Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry for a French prince. Up to
740-601: A tiny figure in the corner." The calendar was also personalized, recording the feast days of local or family saints. By the end of the Middle Ages many manuscripts were produced for distribution through a network of agents, and blank spaces might be reserved for the appropriate heraldry to be added locally by the buyer. Related articles Octateuch The Octateuch ( / ˈ ɒ k t ə tj uː k / , from Ancient Greek : ἡ ὀκτάτευχος , romanized : he oktateuchos , lit. 'eight-part book')
814-697: Is a traditional name for the first eight books of the Bible , comprising the Pentateuch , plus the Book of Joshua , the Book of Judges and the Book of Ruth . These texts make up the first eight books of the Septuagint , which provided the ordering used in traditional Christian Bibles. This order is different from that of the Masoretic Text of the Jewish Bible, where Ruth is considered part of
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#1732797608312888-489: Is a very detailed process that only the most skilled illuminators can undertake and successfully achieve. The first detail an illuminator considered when dealing with gold was whether to use gold leaf or specks of gold that could be applied with a brush. When working with gold leaf, the pieces would be hammered and thinned. The use of this type of leaf allowed for numerous areas of the text to be outlined in gold. There were several ways of applying gold to an illumination. One of
962-625: Is characterized as a sizable, rounded script with vertical characters that is typical of the prominent Bibles and Psalters from the 12th century. Based on the handwriting present in the Bible, it is generally thought that both the Lambeth volume and a significant portion of the Maidstone volume were written by a single scribe. However, starting from folio 197r of the Maidstone volume, a completely new and distinct handwriting emerges, persisting throughout
1036-856: Is famous for its insular designs. The Romanesque and Gothic periods saw the creation of many large illuminated complete bibles . The largest surviving example of these is The Codex Gigas in Sweden; it is so massive that it takes three librarians to lift it. Other illuminated liturgical books appeared during and after the Romanesque period. These included psalters , which usually contained all 150 canonical psalms, and small, personal devotional books made for lay people known as books of hours that would separate one's day into eight hours of devotion. These were often richly illuminated with miniatures, decorated initials and floral borders. They were costly and therefore only owned by wealthy patrons, often women. As
1110-480: Is from Spain, near to Muslim paper manufacturing centres in Al-Andalus . Textual manuscripts on paper become increasingly common, but the more expensive parchment was mostly used for illuminated manuscripts until the end of the period. Very early printed books left spaces for red text, known as rubrics , miniature illustrations and illuminated initials , all of which would have been added later by hand. Drawings in
1184-456: Is in a state of disrepair, with the binding showing signs of deterioration, early pages torn out or damaged, and the majority of illuminated pages and initials missing. The two main scribes responsible for composing the manuscript were also tasked with determining its layout. The initial scribe's method involved writing the text first and then allocating the remaining space for decoration. Additionally, this scribe opted for each book to commence at
1258-525: Is indirectly shaped by Byzantine influence, inherited from its major influence, the Bury Bible, which was itself directly influenced by Byzantine style. The influence of Byzantine art can be seen in the iconography of many of the illustrations contained within the Lambeth Bible, such as the illustration of the book of Genesis on folio six. Rather than adhering to traditional Byzantine iconography,
1332-515: Is portrayed and is divided into two scenes by the tree of Mamre in the center. The story of the Philoxenia of Abraham comes from the book of Genesis 18:1-18, which describes Abraham's hospitality to the Lord when he appeared under the tree of Mamre in the form of three angels. In the first scene, Abraham welcomes the three angels beneath the tree of Mamre. In the second scene, Abraham is shown hosting
1406-479: Is shown anointing the stone in the morning. Jacob and Abraham are both depicted wearing pointed hats, which were commonly used in medieval art to indicate that a figure is Jewish. The ladder extends diagonally across the picture, leading to a bust image of God holding a scroll. This arrangement of the ladder and Jacob sleeping underneath it is a common pictorial scheme for the scene, found in the Ripoll Bible, and
1480-690: The Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī , pointing to a common pictorial tradition that existed since circa 1180 in Syria and Iraq which was highly influenced by Byzantine art . Some of the illustrations of these manuscript have been characterized as "illustration byzantine traitée à la manière arabe" ("Byzantine illustration treated in the Arab style"). The Persian miniature tradition mostly began in whole books, rather than single pages for muraqqas or albums, as later became more common. The Great Mongol Shahnameh , probably from
1554-596: The Archiepiscopal arms of the Archbishop of Canterbury stamped at the center of its cover. The new bindings added in the 15th-century during the rebind of the Bible are nearly indistinguishable from one another. It seems that originally, each volume was secured with a set of metal clasps, which are now absent. Both the front and back covers feature panels with diagonal lines, forming diamond-shaped sections where subtle designs are lightly etched. The Lambeth Bible
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#17327976083121628-597: The Artuqids . An explosion of artistic production in Arabic manuscripts occurred in the 12th and especially the 13th century. Thus various Syriac manuscripts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, such as Syriac Gospels, Vatican Library, Syr. 559 or Syriac Gospels, British Library, Add. 7170 , were derived from the Byzantine tradition, yet stylistically have a lot in common with Islamic illustrated manuscripts such as
1702-470: The British Isles , where distinctive scripts such as insular majuscule and insular minuscule developed. Stocky, richly textured blackletter was first seen around the 13th century and was particularly popular in the later Middle Ages. Prior to the days of such careful planning, "A typical black-letter page of these Gothic years would show a page in which the lettering was cramped and crowded into
1776-551: The Early Modern period. Especially after the book of hours became popular, wealthy individuals commissioned works as a sign of status within the community, sometimes including donor portraits or heraldry : "In a scene from the New Testament, Christ would be shown larger than an apostle, who would be bigger than a mere bystander in the picture, while the humble donor of the painting or the artist himself might appear as
1850-626: The Graeco-Arabic translation movement and the creation of scientific and technical treatises often based on Greek scientific knowledge, such as the Arabic versions of The Book of Fixed Stars (965 CE), De materia medica or Book of the Ten Treatises of the Eye . The translators were most often Arab Syriac Christians , such as Hunayn ibn Ishaq or Yahya ibn Adi , and their work is known to have been sponsored by local rulers, such as
1924-528: The Middle Ages , although many survive from the Renaissance . While Islamic manuscripts can also be called illuminated and use essentially the same techniques, comparable Far Eastern and Mesoamerican works are described as painted . Most manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment until the 2nd century BCE, when a more refined material called vellum , made from stretched calf skin,
1998-465: The 12th century, most manuscripts were produced in monasteries in order to add to the library or after receiving a commission from a wealthy patron. Larger monasteries often contained separate areas for the monks who specialized in the production of manuscripts called a scriptorium . Within the walls of a scriptorium were individualized areas where a monk could sit and work on a manuscript without being disturbed by his fellow brethren. If no scriptorium
2072-525: The 1330s, is a very early manuscript of one of the most common works for grand illustrated books in Persian courts. Illumination was a complex and costly process, and was therefore usually reserved for special books such as altar bibles, or books for royalty. Heavily illuminated manuscripts are often called "luxury manuscripts" for this reason. In the early Middle Ages, most books were produced in monasteries, whether for their own use, for presentation, or for
2146-417: The 14th century there were secular workshops producing manuscripts, and by the beginning of the 15th century these were producing most of the best work, and were commissioned even by monasteries. When the text was complete, the illustrator set to work. Complex designs were planned out beforehand, probably on wax tablets, the sketch pad of the era. The design was then traced or drawn onto the vellum (possibly with
2220-512: The Acts of the Apostles onward. Typically, these figures are represented within these historiated initials through one of three methods: seated upon the letter's form, integrated into the inner space of the letter, or substituting parts of the letter's structure. The Lambeth Bible is written in a pre-Gothic style of script known as littera minuscula protogothica textualis libraria formata, which
2294-538: The Bible, and the short period between 1146 (when the illuminator was in France) and 1154 (King Stephen's death) as an explanation for the Bible's incomplete state. Both volumes of the Lambeth Bible are considerably large, measuring 20.5 x 13.5 inches. The Lambeth volume (MS 3) is generally in excellent condition, with only a few missing pages. Aside from those and the fifteenth-century binding replacement, it remains largely in its original state. The Maidstone volume (MS P.5)
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2368-577: The Halberstadt Abraham's tapestry. These common elements include depicting the three men as angels, featuring the tree of Mamre, and including Sarah in the scene. In the top right corner of the bottom section of the image, the Sacrifice of Isaac is depicted. As described in the accompanying text, Abraham is shown raising his sword high above his son Isaac, who is positioned on the altar, ready for sacrifice. An angel intervenes, emerging from
2442-461: The Lambeth Bible volumes include historiated illuminated initials . These historiated initials only appear at the beginning of each biblical book, depicting either the author of the text or the central figure of the events described within. This practice was a tradition that was common in illuminated Bibles of the 11th and 12th centuries. However, in the Maidstone volume, this tradition halts abruptly. Instead, simpler arabesque initials are employed from
2516-588: The Middle Ages, the Muslim world , especially on the Iberian Peninsula, was instrumental in delivering ancient classic works to the growing intellectual circles and universities of Western Europe throughout the 12th century. Books were produced there in large numbers and on paper for the first time in Europe, and with them full treatises on the sciences, especially astrology and medicine where illumination
2590-564: The Munich Psalter, and the York Psalter . Second, the inclusion of a gray step-like structure leading up to the altar on the right side of the scene is unique to the Lambeth Bible and has not been observed elsewhere. The main focus of the illustration is on Jacob's dream of the ladder to heaven and the subsequent anointing of the stone the next morning. In the bottom right corner, Jacob is depicted asleep, and directly above him, he
2664-596: The Romanesque period many more manuscripts had decorated or historiated initials , and manuscripts essentially for study often contained some images, often not in color. This trend intensified in the Gothic period, when most manuscripts had at least decorative flourishes in places, and a much larger proportion had images of some sort. Display books of the Gothic period in particular had very elaborate decorated borders of foliate patterns, often with small drolleries . A Gothic page might contain several areas and types of decoration:
2738-478: The action of burnishing it is vigorous and runs the risk of smudging any painting already around it." Monasteries produced manuscripts for their own use; heavily illuminated ones tended to be reserved for liturgical use in the early period, while the monastery library held plainer texts. In the early period manuscripts were often commissioned by rulers for their own personal use or as diplomatic gifts, and many old manuscripts continued to be given in this way, even into
2812-425: The aid of pinpricks or other markings, as in the case of the Lindisfarne Gospels ). Many incomplete manuscripts survive from most periods, giving us a good idea of working methods. At all times, most manuscripts did not have images in them. In the early Middle Ages, manuscripts tend to either be display books with very full illumination, or manuscripts for study with at most a few decorated initials and flourishes. By
2886-561: The amalgamation of these narratives mirrors the iconography found in 12th-century Byzantine art, exemplified by the mosaics in Palermo and Monreale . The Byzantine influence seen in the Bury Bible, and consequently in the Lambeth Bible, is thought to have potentially arisen from the inundation of Byzantine art brought to England during the mid-12th century, spurred by the Second Crusade . The Lambeth Bible pays special attention to
2960-422: The background in gold, was taken from Byzantine mosaics and icons . Aside from adding rich decoration to the text, scribes during the time considered themselves to be praising God with their use of gold. Furthermore, gold was used if a patron who had commissioned a book to be written wished to display the vastness of their riches. Eventually, the addition of gold to manuscripts became so frequent "that its value as
3034-404: The best surviving specimens of medieval painting, and the best preserved. Indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting. Art historians classify illuminated manuscripts into their historic periods and types, including (but not limited to) Late Antique , Insular , Carolingian , Ottonian , Romanesque , Gothic , and Renaissance manuscripts . There are
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3108-421: The book is illustrated, not unworthily represent the multiple grace of heavenly wisdom." The medieval artist's palette was broad: Chemical- and mineral-based colors, including: The color red was often associated with imagery like blood, fire, and godly power. It was the most common and inexpensive color and as such was frequently used for initials, lettering, and borders and well as general imagery. Pink
3182-426: The book of Genesis, as is indicated by the inclusion of both a full-page illuminated miniature and a historiated initial at the beginning of the book. The miniature illustrates three events from the lives of Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob . It is noteworthy that the scenes depicted here were rarely used to illustrate the book of Genesis in the giant Romanesque Bibles. The illustration is divided into two main sections by
3256-669: The depiction of the ladder to heaven in the nave mosaics of the Capella Palatina in Palermo closely resembles the Lambeth Bible in its composition of this scene. Illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations . Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers and liturgical books such as psalters and courtly literature ,
3330-502: The first volume in the Lambeth Palace Library was paired with another volume (MS P.5) in the library, but in 1924 it was realized that the correct pairing was with the Maidstone volume. The Lambeth Bible does not have a press-mark or any other indication of its initial owner or origin. Furthermore, it cannot be located in medieval records of English monastic establishments. As a result, there has been much debate about
3404-478: The four books of Kings contain illuminated miniatures , excluding Exodus and Leviticus. In the Maidstone volume, illustrations were planned for the beginnings of nearly all the books of the Old Testament. However, in the New Testament section of the Maidstone volume, illustrations were only planned for the first two Gospels, after which pictorial elements were omitted for the remainder of the volume. Both of
3478-586: The illuminations of one page of a manuscript: The illumination and decoration was normally planned at the inception of the work, and space reserved for it. However, the text was usually written before illumination began. In the Early Medieval period the text and illumination were often done by the same people, normally monks, but by the High Middle Ages the roles were typically separated, except for routine initials and flourishes, and by at least
3552-452: The margins (known as marginalia ) would also allow scribes to add their own notes, diagrams, translations, and even comic flourishes. The introduction of printing rapidly led to the decline of illumination. Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century but in much smaller numbers, mostly for the very wealthy. They are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages; many thousands survive. They are also
3626-406: The most popular included mixing the gold with stag's glue and then "pour it into water and dissolve it with your finger." Once the gold was soft and malleable in the water, it was ready to be applied to the page. Illuminators had to be very careful when applying gold leaf to the manuscript because gold leaf is able to "adhere to any pigment which had already been laid, ruining the design, and secondly
3700-422: The most popular secular texts of the time were bestiaries . These books contained illuminated depictions of various animals, both real and fictional, and often focused on their religious symbolism and significance, as it was a widespread belief in post-classical Europe that animals, and all other organisms on Earth, were manifestations of God. These manuscripts served as both devotional guidance and entertainment for
3774-640: The move from monasteries to commercial settings was a radical step. Demand for manuscripts grew to an extent that monastic libraries began to employ secular scribes and illuminators. These individuals often lived close to the monastery and, in instances, dressed as monks whenever they entered the monastery, but were allowed to leave at the end of the day. Illuminators were often well known and acclaimed and many of their identities have survived. The Byzantine world produced manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas. With their traditions of literacy uninterrupted by
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#17327976083123848-528: The period, many of the painters were women, especially painting the elaborate border, and perhaps especially in Paris. The type of script depended on local customs and tastes. In England, for example, Textura was widely used from the 12th to 16th centuries, while a cursive hand known as Anglicana emerged around 1260 for business documents. In the Frankish Empire, Carolingian minuscule emerged under
3922-458: The picture plane. On the other side of the ladder, in the top right corner, the Sacrifice of Isaac is depicted. The iconography of each biblical scene depicted within the Genesis miniature provides insight into the iconographical sources used for the illumination of the Lambeth Bible. In the top section of the image, the story of the Philoxenia of Abraham, also known as the Hospitality of Abraham,
3996-569: The practice continued into secular texts from the 13th century onward and typically include proclamations , enrolled bills , laws , charters , inventories, and deeds . The earliest surviving illuminated manuscripts are a small number from late antiquity , and date from between 400 and 600. Examples include the Vergilius Romanus , Vergilius Vaticanus , and the Rossano Gospels . The majority of extant manuscripts are from
4070-424: The production of manuscripts shifted from monasteries to the public sector during the High Middle Ages , illuminated books began to reflect secular interests. These included short stories, legends of the saints, tales of chivalry, mythological stories, and even accounts of criminal, social or miraculous occurrences. Some of these were also freely used by storytellers and itinerant actors to support their plays. One of
4144-582: The provenance of the Lambeth Bible. Eric Millar proposed a Canterbury provenance, which C. R. Dodwell supported in his study of the Canterbury scriptorium of 1954. Millar and Dodwell based their theory of a Canterbury provenance on some entries from the sixteenth century that occur on folio 310r in the Maidstone volume. These entries show that around 1541, the manuscript was in Lenham, a town halfway between Canterbury and Maidstone, and provide evidence that there
4218-406: The rest of the Bible. This suggests that two distinct scribes were involved in the writing of the Lambeth Bible. During the latter half of the 15th century, repairs were carried out on both volumes. Additional supply leaves were inserted into the Maidstone volume, and both were subsequently rebound using bindings crafted from white goat-skin and wooden boards. During the 1600s, the Lambeth volume had
4292-529: The right and grasping the sword to prevent Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Two significant iconographic elements stand out in this scene. First, the presence of an altar cloth on the altar where Isaac stands is unusual and not explicitly mentioned in the accompanying text. Instances of this depiction are only known in the Aelfric paraphrase from Canterbury, the Genesis initial of the Winchester Bible ,
4366-463: The same prefatory materials as the Lambeth Bible. However, none of the divisions of the two-volume Bibles included in the inventory of the St Augustine’s library correspond to that of the Lambeth Bible. Christopher de Hamel instead links the Bible to Faversham Abbey , and claims that it was being produced for King Stephen . He supports his claim by drawing attention to the frequent royal imagery in
4440-485: The scene depicted in folio six much more closely aligns with the contemporaneous 12th-century Byzantine iconography. This is apparent in the fusion of two narratives from Jacob's story depicted in the illustration. In this portrayal, Jacob is depicted both dreaming, witnessing a ladder encircled by angels ascending towards God offering a scroll, and awake, anointing oil onto the stone that served as his pillow. While in traditional Byzantine iconography these scenes are distinct,
4514-812: The second incomplete volume (covering Psalms to Revelation) is in the Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery (MS P.5). The style of the illumination is clearly influenced by the work of Master Hugo , the illuminator of the Bury Bible . The Lambeth Bible bears close stylistic resemblance to the Gospel book made for Abbot Wedric of Liessies Abbey (Hainault) in 1146, of which only two leaves survive (the rest having been destroyed at Metz in World War II), now in Avesnes-sur-Helpe . For many years
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#17327976083124588-438: The sixteenth century. He argues that a Canterbury provenance is accurate, but that the strongest evidence for this is actually found in the textual, structural, and iconographic characteristics of the Lambeth Bible. Dorothy Shepard argues that the book was produced in the scriptorium of St Augustine's Abbey between 1150-70. To support her theory, Shepard cites other bibles produced in the scriptorium at St Augustine's which contain
4662-414: The start of a new folio . In contrast, the second scribe diverged from this layout approach, opting for minimal breaks between text, even omitting delineations for the beginning of new books as the first scribe had done. Consequently, the section of the Maidstone volume written by the second scribe appears significantly denser and more crowded in comparison. In the Lambeth volume, the entire Octateuch and
4736-488: The three angels around a table with food set out; Sarah is depicted in the border to the right of the scene, observing the unfolding events. Many elements found in the Lambeth Bible's portrayal of the Philoxenia of Abraham are shared with other portrayls of the scene from the High Middle Ages, such as the illustrations from the preface of Prudentius's Psychomachia and the Halberstadt Abraham's Carpet, also known as
4810-412: The vast educational program of Charlemagne . The first step was to send the manuscript to a rubricator , "who added (in red or other colors) the titles, headlines , the initials of chapters and sections, the notes and so on; and then – if the book was to be illustrated – it was sent to the illuminator". These letters and notes would be applied using an ink-pot and either a sharpened quill feather or
4884-486: The working class of the Middle Ages. The Gothic period, which generally saw an increase in the production of illuminated books, also saw more secular works such as chronicles and works of literature illuminated. Wealthy people began to build up personal libraries; Philip the Bold probably had the largest personal library of his time in the mid-15th century, is estimated to have had about 600 illuminated manuscripts, whilst
4958-486: Was a possible connection between the new Lenham owners of the manuscript and the monastery of Christ Church in Canterbury. More recently, Josef Reidmaier also argued that the manuscript was produced in the Christ Church scriptorium in Canterbury around 1150. Riedmaier criticizes Dodwell's evidence of a Canterbury provenance as inadequate, since it was based primarily on storage records of the manuscript's location from
5032-430: Was available, then "separate little rooms were assigned to book copying; they were situated in such a way that each scribe had to himself a window open to the cloister walk." By the 14th century, the cloisters of monks writing in the scriptorium had almost fully given way to commercial urban scriptoria, especially in Paris, Rome and the Netherlands. While the process of creating an illuminated manuscript did not change,
5106-427: Was brushed with gold specks. Gold leaf was from the 12th century usually polished, a process known as burnishing . The inclusion of gold alludes to many different possibilities for the text. If the text is of religious nature, lettering in gold is a sign of exalting the text. In the early centuries of Christianity, Gospel manuscripts were sometimes written entirely in gold. The gold ground style, with all or most of
5180-483: Was considered a fashionable color and was often found in clothing depictions of aristocrats and in filigree detail work. It also was used to color illuminated manuscript depictions of walls and lakes. Mineral-based colors, including: Green was often associated with visuals related to the Garden of Eden and symbolized rebirth. Verdigris Green was a specific shade almost exclusively used in cross imagery, and Green Earth
5254-399: Was required to have profuse and accurate representations with the text. The origins of the pictorial tradition of Arabic illustrated manuscripts are uncertain. The first known decorated manuscripts are some Qur'ans from the 9th century. They were not illustrated, but were "illuminated" with decorations of the frontispieces or headings. The tradition of illustrated manuscripts started with
5328-424: Was supposedly introduced by King Eumenes II of Pergamum . This gradually became the standard for luxury illuminated manuscripts, although modern scholars are often reluctant to distinguish between parchment and vellum, and the skins of various animals might be used. The pages were then normally bound into codices (singular: codex ), that is the usual modern book format, although sometimes the older scroll format
5402-557: Was used under other pigments in order to create depth to skin tones. Chemical- and mineral-based colors, including: Blue, especially the pigment ultramarine, was a valuable and rare color and was commonly used in depictions of the Virgin Mary. It was also commonly used for initials, lettering, and borders. On the strictest definition, a manuscript is not considered "illuminated" unless one or many illuminations contained metal, normally gold leaf or shell gold paint, or at least
5476-495: Was used, for various reasons. A very few illuminated fragments also survive on papyrus . Books ranged in size from ones smaller than a modern paperback, such as the pocket gospel , to very large ones such as choirbooks for choirs to sing from, and "Atlantic" bibles, requiring more than one person to lift them. Paper manuscripts appeared during the Late Middle Ages . The untypically early 11th century Missal of Silos
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