Illuminated manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared <a href="/facts/Manuscript/A6XNmrTd">document</a> where the text is decorated with flourishes such as <a href="/facts/Marginalia/HHGWChQn">borders</a> and <a href="/facts/Miniature_(illuminated_manuscript)/0vwe3VW0">miniature illustrations</a>. Often used in the <a href="/facts/Roman_Catholic_Church/rJ4F4gqH">Roman Catholic Church</a> for prayers and <a href="/facts/Liturgical_books/8LU0nxHp">liturgical books</a> such as <a href="/facts/Psalters/CL5LUQWy">psalters</a> and <a href="/facts/Courtly_literature/agW05Mhb">courtly literature</a>, the practice continued into secular texts from the 13th century onward and typically include <a href="/facts/Proclamation/RxwSrDy1">proclamations</a>, <a href="/facts/Enrolled_bill/DY4RDlhx">enrolled bills</a>, <a href="/facts/Law/luzxWkg0">laws</a>, <a href="/facts/Charter/MjzrwVDd">charters</a>, inventories, and <a href="/facts/Deed/UJl4lShS">deeds</a>.
The earliest surviving illuminated manuscripts are a small number from <a href="/facts/Late_antiquity/sPTl0dyD">late antiquity</a>, and date from between 400 and 600 CE. Examples include the <a href="/facts/Vergilius_Romanus/j2MH7ceo">Vergilius Romanus</a>, <a href="/facts/Vergilius_Vaticanus/goFRAVII">Vergilius Vaticanus</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Rossano_Gospels/zyaShqT4">Rossano Gospels</a>. The majority of extant manuscripts are from the <a href="/facts/Middle_Ages/RqzEKB9v">Middle Ages</a>, although many survive from the <a href="/facts/Renaissance/4D9Bc6KU">Renaissance</a>. While <a href="/facts/Islamic_manuscripts/b62rUUyM">Islamic manuscripts</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Parchment/1lqNVkWj">parchment</a> until the 2nd century BCE, when a more refined material called <a href="/facts/Vellum/YVaKAeCU">vellum</a>, made from stretched calf skin, was supposedly introduced by King <a href="/facts/Eumenes_II/vwYqj76t">Eumenes</a> II of <a href="/facts/Pergamum/rIpRRus2">Pergamum</a>. 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: <a href="/facts/Codex/FGxYMAcG">codex</a>), that is the usual modern book format, although sometimes the older <a href="/facts/Scroll/dcCV0rNQ">scroll</a> format was used, for various reasons. A very few illuminated fragments also survive on <a href="/facts/Papyrus/RMbJNcXu">papyrus</a>. Books ranged in size from ones smaller than a modern paperback, such as the <a href="/facts/Pocket_gospel/np4qDydm">pocket gospel</a>, to very large ones such as <a href="/facts/Choirbook/fkRyMpgQ">choirbooks</a> for choirs to sing from, and <a href="/facts/Atlantic_bible/hcYPSWxP">Atlantic bibles</a>, requiring more than one person to lift them.
Paper manuscripts appeared during the <a href="/facts/Late_Middle_Ages/XNtcJjrU">Late Middle Ages</a>. The untypically early 11th century <a href="/facts/Missal_of_Silos/EI8BjIwe">Missal of Silos</a> is from Spain, near to Muslim paper manufacturing centres in <a href="/facts/Al-Andalus/JTNmWTzP">Al-Andalus</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/Rubric/dSDug6gH">rubrics</a>, miniature illustrations and illuminated <a href="/facts/Initial/Ak2WEGW3">initials</a>, all of which would have been added later by hand. Drawings in the margins (known as <a href="/facts/Marginalia/HHGWChQn">marginalia</a>) 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 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.

Illuminated manuscript open-in-new

Illuminated manuscript