Rossnagel
Graphic Design
Illuminated Manuscripts
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.
The earliest surviving illuminated manuscripts are from the period AD 400 to 600
(also in the gothic period), primarily produced in Ireland, Constantinople and Italy.
The significance of these works lies not only in their inherent art history value, but
in the maintenance of a link to literacy.
The majority of surviving manuscripts are from the Middle Ages, although many illuminated manuscripts survive from
the 15th century Renaissance, along with a very limited number from Late Antiquity. The majority of these manuscripts
are of a religious nature.
Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment (most commonly of calf, sheep, or goat
skin), but most manuscripts important enough to illuminate
were written on the best quality of parchment, called vellum,
traditionally made of unsplit calf skin, though high quality
parchment from other skins was also called parchment.
We are going to create our own
Illuminated
Manuscripts
You will need to do the following
1. Find a fairy tale or fable to use.
2. Create a cover Page for the Fairy
Tale.
3. Create a layout design for your fairy
tale… how many pages you use
depends on the length of your story.
You need at least two pages in addition to your cover page.
4. Create at least one decorative first initial. This can be done by hand and
scanned in or done on the computer in Illustrator (NO PHOTOSHOP!)
5. Create a border
design for your
pages.
6. Create a small
illustration to go
along with your
story. This needs to
be done by hand
and scanned in.