Making an Illuminated Manuscript
At the Fitzwilliam Museum
Monuments of learning and devotion, illuminated manuscripts double
as galleries of paintings. With the vast majority of the monumental
and decorative arts destroyed by the forces of nature or social
upheavals, manuscripts remain the richest, best-preserved, and most
representative examples of medieval and early Renaissance art.
The making of an illuminated manuscript was a complex and expensive
process. It required the expertise of parchment makers, scribes,
artists, and binders, and the lavish provision of gold, silver,
precious stones and pigments. The costly materials and skills involved
in the production of a deluxe manuscript displayed the patron’s
wealth, status, piety, erudition, and taste. Unlike most other art
media, illuminated manuscripts preserve the physical, historical,
social, and cultural context of their production within their own
covers.
|