Chapter 4: Illuminated Scripts

A lot happened in this chapter. Illuminated manuscripts were books with a new look to them. They were dazzling and, obviously, illuminated. Gold was hammered into sheets of gold leaf. Special care and dedication was given toward the making of the books, since it was costly and timely. Christians, Jews and Muslims found these manuscripts to be meaningful. The Christian books were created in a scriptorium—a writing room. A scrittori edited the book and directed the illustrations. The copisti—said to have a tough job—was the production letterer, so this person would stand over the writing table and carefully spend time writing. There was a colophon at the end of the book that warned the readers not to touch the text. These manuscripts were small, with the ability to be taken to other regions to share knowledge/ideas (graphic forms, page layouts, illustrations, lettering, etc.) with others. Interestingly, manuscript schools were major innovators for graphic design. The use of parchment and codices opened the door for many possibilities during the classical style—illuminations being similar to Roman painting, but with text. Many manuscripts of the Romans and Greeks were lost. The earliest surviving manuscript was called Vatican Virgil, which was a volume of two major works. There was the Fall of Rome, which caused illiteracy and poverty, but books were still being made. Celtics created book designs with realistic-looking ribbons being woven. These carpet pages took up many full pages in their books. When Charlemagne was declared emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, he introduced the feudal system; landowners had power over the peasants. He also wanted to establish a school because writing was done poorly.

The most interesting thing I learned in this chapter was how manuscripts had gold hammered into the pages. I think it is so cool how the pages were illuminated and attractive. I can see why religious manuscripts were created with this look. The word is very important, so they wanted their books to look important and special.

Since the book mentioned that illustrations were not designed for decoration, what were they used for?