Medieval Manuscript Illumination
History of Romanesque, Gothic and International
Style Book Painting.
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Medieval Manuscript Illumination
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Medieval Manuscript Illumination
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Medieval illuminated manuscripts built on the traditions of Christian art previously established by three earlier schools: namely, the Irish school (flourished 600-800); King Charlemagne's school at Aachen (c.750-900) and the German Ottonian school (c.900-1050). Irish book painting - the first school of this type of early Christian art - began about 600, with the vellum Psalter known as the Cathach of Columba (c.610), after which came masterpieces like the Book of Durrow (c.680), the earliest fully decorated Gospel manuscript of the Hiberno-Saxon Insular tradition, and finally the glorious Book of Kells (c.800), by which time Irish artist-scribes were active across Nothern England and much of Continental Europe. The only other active centre of Christian painting was Constantinople (formerly Byzantium), capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. Celebrated for its delicacy and decorative colouring, Byzantine art inspired the European cultural revival embodied by Carolingian art, whose scriptoria at Aachen, Paris, Reims, Metz and Tours produced wonderful illustrated manuscripts like the Godescalc Evangelistary (c.783), the Utrecht Psalter (c.830) and the Grandval Bible (c.840). Following in Charlemagne's footsteps, the Holy Roman Emperors Otto I, II and III instigated their own cultural renaissance in monasteries at Reichenau Island, Trier, Cologne, Regensburg and Echternach. Influenced by Carolingian models as well as Byzantine elements - including the widespread use of gold leaf - Ottonian art became noted for lavishly decorated gospel texts, such as the Perikpenbuch of Henry II (c.1010), Bamberg Apocalypse (c.1020), the Hitda-Codex (c.1025) and the Codex Aureus Epternacensis (c.1053). |
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Manuscript illustration of the Middle Ages is of special importance in the study of the fine art painting of the period. A huge amount of mural painting has perished, faded or been destroyed by sunlight, damp and vandalism; the technique of oil-painting was not widely adopted until the 15th century; and there are only fragmentary remains of the great stained-glass art that adorned so many cathedrals and abbeys. In contrast, the small size of manuscripts enabled them to be stored in the comparative safety of libraries, each illustration shut away from the light and the volumes bound between strong covers. These illuminations, which bear witness to the flowering of medieval art, can be seen in a very good state of preservation even today. Moreover, the illumination of manuscripts is by no means a minor art. The paintings are not a mere reflection of larger wall paintings; indeed, it is known that manuscripts were often copied by medieval artists active in other disciplines, such as fresco painters and stone sculptors. They are, despite their size, often monumental works of art. |
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How Illuminated Books Came to be Made Before the invention of printing, books were the precious possessions of great ecclesiastical or secular patrons, produced only after long hours, even months, of fine, patient work. During the earlier part of the period the books were written and illustrated in monastic foundations by monks working in the part of the abbey called the scriptorium. The manuscripts were written solely 'for the Greater Glory of God', and commissions for this type of religious art from kings and emperors were considered acts of piety and religious devotion. (See also: Medieval Christian Artworks.) Later, however, the patronage changed and during the thirteenth century we see knights and noblemen commissioning books for their own private use. Guilds of illuminators were founded and the writing and illustrating of manuscripts became a commercial enterprise with properly organized workshops, commissions and payments. The pages offer the widest possible range of subject-matter and from them we can glean information about the manners and customs of medieval people. Every aspect of their lives is illustrated. Different types of armour and methods of making war are there for the student to examine, as well as the musical instruments they used, the games they played and the clothes they wore. Many different types of books were illuminated. First, there are the lavish, large scale ceremonial books - often adorned with jewellery and precious metal, embellished with enamelwork - that is, cloisonné and (later) champlevé - for use during church services. Apart from the Bible there are Gospel Books and Evangeliaries which contain the Canon Tables at the beginning showing a concordance of texts from the four Gospels; there are Missals, Breviaries, Benedictionals and Psalters for conducting the services, and special books such as the Gradual which contains passages to be sung on the altar steps. Then there are the treatises intended for theological instruction such as the commentaries of Abbot Liebana on the Apocalypse, St Jerome's commentary on the Psalms or St Augustine's De Civitate Dei. Monks proudly commemorated saints from their monasteries by writing accounts of their lives. Certain non-religious works like the comedies of Terence and the Caedmon poems appeared during the period of Romanesque art, along with encyclopedic works on medicine, animals and plants, but it is during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that secular books became really fashionable. With changes of patronage, we move into the International Gothic Age of Chivalry, the age of the great romances of Lancelot du Lac, the Roman de la Rose and the poems of Christine de Pisan. These manuscripts come down to us today as representatives of a lost way of life and thought. Nothing had greater significance for that age than religion. The laborious creation of this type of Biblical art was an exercise in faith, thought to be beneficial to the illuminator. For the reader, it was equally rewarding, spiritually. A Combination of Artistry, Craftsmanship and Religious Devotion The very survival in perfect state of any object of this age is of interest in itself. Manuscripts are examples of work done solely by hand. No artist's paper or sketchbooks were handed to these craftsmen. The task began with the preparation of fine vellum, very thin and yet strong. Colour pigments of great purity and lasting intensity had to be obtained, ground and mixed; endless exact lines of script had to be faultlessly copied; gold leaf was delicately gilded and patterned on backgrounds. All this had to be done on a minute scale requiring perfect concentration and control. The often-quoted saying 'Art is its own reward' could not be more justly applied to any other branch of art. Illuminated manuscripts are the superb combination of artistry, craftsmanship and religious devotion. See: Making of Illuminated Manuscripts. Five Centuries of European Book Painting The scope of our series covers the period from approximately 1000 to 1500 and embraces the whole of Western Europe. It is a period stretching from before the Norman Conquest to the reign of Henry VII in England, from the Ottonian Empire in Germany to the High Renaissance in Italy. Crusades were undertaken against the Infidel, momentous battles lost and won, and during this time new horizons were opened up by the journeys of Marco Polo, Columbus and Vasco da Gama. The history of illuminated manuscripts between 1000 and 1500 can be broken up into two very general groups, the Romanesque style and the Gothic style, but there is no precise dividing line between the two and, at the same time, each general title embraces a great number of different trends varying not only from country to country but also from one period of time to another. The Romanesque style spans the period from the Millennium until about 1150/75 when new trends consolidate to form the style of Gothic art and architecture. In the simplest terms, Romanesque painting must not be judged by the artist's ability to paint what he saw. The maxim of truth to nature does not apply as this was not the artist's intention. It is a highly sophisticated style that sacrifices optical veracity to narrative clarity. The Romanesque style is the creation of a people imbued with deep religious conviction, and if the artist felt that he could achieve wider emotional significance by stylizing the portrayal of the human figure, by taking him out of his earthly environment, he did not hesitate to do so. To obtain narrative impact the figures are sometimes drawn directly onto the bare parchment or set against a solid, brightly coloured background of gold or blue. The figures themselves are flattened into two dimensions and often clothed in draperies broken up into a pattern of geometric shapes. However, by the time the centres of illumination moved from the seclusion of the cloister to the workshops and guilds, the style was already changing into the so-called Gothic manner: see, for instance, works by Simone Martini (1285-1344). The new patronage demanded a different, more realistic style of painting to record its transitory, earthly riches for posterity. By the quattrocento, the illuminator's art had reached the summit of a delicate, miniature representation of the world in which the artist lived. In the best of this miniature painting, landscape was treated with minute care and the prayer book known as the Tres Riches Hemes du Duc de Berry, by the three family Limbourg Brothers (all died 1416), was a milestone in the history of landscape-painting. See also the Brussels Hours (c.1400, Belgian National Library, Brussels) by Jacquemart de Hesdin (c.1355-1414), as well as works by Jean Fouquet (1420-81), and others. The invention of the printing press was the death knell for the art of manuscript illumination, and in the West it stopped abruptly at the beginning of the sixteenth century. Rare illuminated manuscripts from the Romanesque and Gothic periods can be seen in some of the best art museums in the world. Further Resources • Romanesque
Illuminated Manuscripts |
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• For a chronological guide to the
evolution of religious book painting, see: History
of Art Timeline.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ART HISTORY |
