The Illuminated Manuscripts of the Middle Ages

The history of book-making is rich, from parchment production to medieval scriptoriums where scribes copied texts by hand. Words carried both meaning and art, and illuminated manuscripts show how inseparable the two once were.

The word manuscript comes from Latin, with manus meaning “hand” and scriptus meaning “written.” To be considered illuminated, a manuscript had to contain decoration that “lights up,” often achieved with gold or silver leaf.

Illuminated manuscripts date back to Ancient Egypt, with copies of the Book of the Dead using illustrated decoration and gold leaf. Manuscripts from the Middle Ages span roughly 300 AD to the 1500s, declining after the invention of the printing press. Attempts to print illuminated manuscripts failed to capture their effect, and the practice eventually faded.

One innovation from medieval manuscripts is the rectangular page shape still in use today. Egyptian manuscripts used papyrus scrolls, but medieval scribes worked with animal hides. Stretched hides naturally lent themselves to four-sided sheets, allowing both economy and standardization.

The “paper” of the time was parchment or vellum, made from different animal skins. For clarity, this article will refer to these hides as paper. Once prepared, scribes ruled the pages with guides for writing and decoration, often leaving these lines visible. Tools included lead, ivory picks, or small metal wheels.

Scribes wrote with a quill in one hand and a knife in the other—the knife flattening the paper or scraping away mistakes. Inks were made by hand, using natural dyes for pigments and various recipes. Gold leaf was applied first with a natural resin, then burnished to shine before colored inks were added. Sometimes the paper itself was dyed purple or black. Only seven of these black illuminated manuscripts survive, their pages written in gold or silver ink.

The artistry of manuscripts lay in both text and decoration. Every monastery had its own aesthetic—some favoring miniatures, others distinctive color harmonies. Letters themselves were highly stylized, elevating calligraphy into an art form:

It is the writing that makes the book, and every other feature should harmonize with it. Writing itself was an art in the Middle Ages. The shape and size of the letters, the spacing of the lines, the color of the ink, the arrangement of the written material on the page, all this was done with a view to create beauty. Even more than the miniature, calligraphy reflects the artistic tendency of the age. (2)

The art of illumination was steeped in copying. Texts were reproduced verbatim—even leaving mistakes—and passed from monastery to monastery. This makes defining the “artist” difficult, though a few names emerged.

Cennino Cennini in his late fourteenth-century treatise of instruction tells the aspiring artist that he must first learn to copy his master's style before he can hope to add anything of his own... A twentieth-century discourse stresses the contrary pull between tradition and innovation...[There] are the medieval artists considered responsible for innovations that proved so influential that they were widely copied [...] (10)

One famous example is Beatus de Liébana, a monk from Asturias, Spain (730–785 AD). His distinctive manuscript style—bold colors, striking calligraphy, and illustrations—spread widely, becoming known as the Beati. Though working in isolation, Beatus was seen as the “master” whose work was endlessly copied.

To call illuminated manuscripts “art” is to recognize that scribes began as copyists before adding personal touches. The making of ink, paper, and structure was itself artistry, and some monasteries distinguished themselves through originality. Ultimately, art and the written word were created for one another, bound together to form enduring works of beauty.

Thanks so much for reading.

Take care for now,

Caitlin

Further Reading:

1) Photo: The Funeral of Raymond Diocrès, Limbourg brothers, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

2) Haraszti, Zoltán. “Medieval Manuscripts.” The Catholic Historical Review, vol. 14, no. 2, 1928, pp. 237–247. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25012519. Accessed 1 Feb. 2021.

3) Hutchinson, Susan A. “ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS.” The Brooklyn Museum Quarterly, vol. 13, no. 3, 1926, pp. 73–80. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26459674. Accessed 2 Feb. 2021.

4) Taylor, John H. (Editor), Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead: Journey through the afterlife. British Museum Press, London, 2010.

5) Gresham College. "The Making of Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts - Dr Sally Dormer." YouTube, 30 May 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBxo51GiGiU.

6) Januszczak, Waldemar, director. Dark Ages: An Age of Light. ZCZ Films, 2012.

7) Photo: Book of Hours by Anthony of Burgundy, <https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-5994384>, via Christie's.

8) Wikipedia contributors. “Black Books of Hours.” Wikipedia, 4 June 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_books_of_hours.

9) ALEXANDER, JONATHAN J. G. “Facsimiles, Copies, and Variations: The Relationship to the Model in Medieval and Renaissance European Illuminated Manuscripts.” Studies in the History of Art, vol. 20, 1989, pp. 61–72. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/42620156. Accessed 19 Feb. 2021.

10) Photo: Français : Facundus, pour Ferdinand Ier de Castille et Leon et la reine Sancha, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

11) Wikipedia contributors. “Beatus of Liébana.” Wikipedia, 8 Sept. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatus_of_Li%C3%A9bana.