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The feathers have been removed and the tip is being cut into a point. Here we see a scribe preparing a quill for writing.

Often metal clasps or leather ties would hold the book shut. Next the pictures, border decorations, and ornamented letters were painted, in colors made from natural pigments.įinally, all of the pages were folded, sewn together, and bound between covers of wood or leather. The illuminator applied small, delicate sheets of gold or silver leaf with a wet glue and then polished with a smooth stone or even a hound’s tooth. First, gold or silver was put on, a process called gilding. When the scribe finished the writing, the illuminator went to work painting the illustrations and decorations. Most scribes knew several writing styles, and a person commissioning a book could select the lettering style. The lines of text were fairly short, usually no more than four to nine words each. Then he began, writing in ink with a quill pen made from a goose or swan feather. The skins were cleaned, stretched, scraped, and whitened with chalk to provide bright, strong, and smooth pages for writing.īefore starting to copy a text, the scribe marked the margins of the page and ruled lines to write on. Manuscripts were written on either vellum (calf skin) or parchment (sheep or goat skin). Idea Three: How was an illuminated manuscript made?Ī close look at this manuscript reveals the ruled lines that were a guide for the scribe. This painting shows a cardinal writing in his study. The artist for this manuscript, Bonaventura a Montepulciano, signed and dated this work at the lower frame of the miniature A person who wanted a book would order it through a bookseller, who hired scribes and illuminators to do the work. Making illuminated manuscripts became a business conducted in cities. The rise of universities and the middle class created a demand for books, and book production became a way to make money. One monk might do the writing and another the illuminating.Īfter the twelfth century, monks were no longer the only scribes. Sometimes the same person was both scribe and illustrator, but not necessarily. Scribes worked in a writing room called a scriptorium. He might travel quite a distance to borrow one from another monastery, and even stay there to do his copying.

To make a new manuscript, a monk had to obtain a book to copy. However, rulers and high-ranking churchmen commissioned books from monastaries, including historical records and Greek and Roman literature. Monks copied books mainly for use in worship. Before universities existed, monasteries were the central places for learning. In early medieval times, monks were the sole makers of illuminated manuscripts. Idea Two: Who made illuminated manuscripts? This close-up of the border allows us to see where gold leaf was applied. The miniature depicting Christ’s Crucifixion is also a decorated letter C. 1425-1464īrown and red ink, gouache, and gilding, and leadpoint ruling on vellum This illuminated manuscript is decorated with an elaborate border and a miniature painting.Ĭrucifixion with a Crowd of Supplicants, c. The making of illuminated manuscripts continued strong until the 1450s, when a German man named Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type and the printing press, making mass production of books possible. The pictures were especially important because during medieval times, many people, even those who owned manuscripts, could not read. Such decorations illustrated the text and helped guide people through it. Medieval manuscript decoration included small painted scenes (called miniatures), intricate borders, ornate chapter letters, and even elaborate full-page paintings. Gold was usually applied to the pages in extremely thin sheets called gold leaf. The word “illuminated,” from the Latin illuminare, means “lighted up.” For a book to truly be illuminated, it had to be decorated with gold. A scribe would obtain a book to copy and painstakingly write out every word, in ink with a quill pen. The word “manuscript” from the Latin words manus (hand) and scriptus (writing) literally means “written by hand.” Before the invention of printing, copies of books had to be handwritten. Possibly The School of the Master of Mary of Burgundyexpand_more Leaf from a Book of Hours (recto and verso), late 15th century Idea One: What is an illuminated manuscript?

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