Illuminated manuscript is a book written and decorated by hand. Illumination refers to the art of decorating books with bright colors and precious metals so they seem to glow.
Illuminated manuscripts flourished during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Many kinds of books were illuminated. They included works in Latin and in vernacular (native) languages. The most common illuminated manuscripts were Bibles, prayer books called Books of Hours, choir books, collections of Psalms called Psalters, learned treatises, chronicles, romances, and poetry.
A page could receive a variety of illuminations, either tied to the text or independent of it. A historiated initial introduced the text with a scene or figure within an enlarged letter. A decorated initial introduced the text with a letter adorned with various motifs (designs). Line endings filled out a line of text with decoration to the margin. Drolleries were amusing human or animal figures often painted in a page’s borders. Border decoration consisted of pictures and designs surrounding the text in its margins. An independent painting in a manuscript is called a miniature.
Manuscript illuminators worked with natural animal, mineral, and vegetable substances in their paint. They especially prized a brilliant shade of blue made with the gem lapis lazuli. In addition, illuminators used the precious metals gold and silver. For practical reasons, the illumination was nearly always added after the text was written.
Beginning in the 500’s, illuminated manuscripts were made primarily by monks working in the scriptoriums (writing rooms) of monasteries. As early as the 1200’s, illumination shifted to craftworkers who lived and worked in cities. Even after the invention of printing during the mid-1400’s, the illuminated manuscript persisted as a specialized form of book.
