Illuminated Manuscripts – Making a manuscript or scribes & artists paint themselves

Jean Miélot, also Jehan, (d. 1472) scribe for Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy from 1449-1467. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale. Ms. Fr. 9198, f. 19.
As early as the 1100s, books began to be produced for wealthy individuals as well as institutions. There began to be a gowing secular reading public demanding an increase in manuscript production.

 

Parchment Sellers scrubbing & stretching the parcment 15th century Bologna, University Library. Cod. Bonon. 963, f. 4.
Manuscripts were hand-written & illustrated during the medieval era (A.D. 500-1500), before the invention of printing presses, making them time-consuming &  expensive to make. However, considering the alternatives, this method was quicker & much more portable than carving language symbols in stone or wood, however.

 

Scribe buying parchment Copenhagen, Royal Library. Ms. 4, 2o f. 183v.
Manuscripts were usually written parchment or vellum made from the skins of sheep, calves, or goats. Parchment & vellum are terms often used interchangably, although sometimes vellum refers to a finer quality of writing material. And, of course, parchment was eventually replaced by paper. Some manuscripts were actually written on medieval paper made from linen rags. Often lines were ruled on the pages of medieval manuscripts to guide the script writer.

 

Some medieval manuscripts were written on papyrus, & this fragile Egyptian reed material continued to be used for manuscripts until the 7-8th-centuries. Papyrus plantations came to Sicily during the papacy of Gregory I (590-604) & papyrus was used for papal correspondence until the 11th century.

 

 

St Matthew ruling parchment 12th cent Dinant Gospels Manchester, John Rylands University Library. Rylands Latin Ms. 11, f. 14.
In the Early Middle Ages, the majority of manuscripts produced served as the liturgical books used by priests & monks in churches & monasteries.

 

 

Mark sharpening his quill in French Renaissance Book of Hours as a scribe Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury, The National Trust. Ms 20, f. 13v.
As the church expanded & new monesteries were built, more liturgical books were needed. At new venues, the abbot or the monks initially came from an already established monastic community, which provided the most urgent books for the new site, which then began to copy necessary books for themselves.

 

 

St Paul sharpens his quill, assistant rubs parchment with pumice stone
Medieval copyist monks, often called scribes, were responsible for copying the works of authors by hand.

 

 

Detail from the Codex Caesareus Upsaliensis Emperor’s Bible Matthew Uppsala University Library (c 93)
Because manuscripts were very expensive to make, they often served as status symbols. Most families who owned manuscripts held privileged positions in society.

 

 

Initial letter G, from a manuscript produced in northern Italy during the early 1400s.
The major themes of manuscripts became more diversified as the secular readership grew and included the traditional religious(particularly Christianity) books plus new art subjects such as courtly activities, the hunt, gardening, & literarature.

Scribe Jean Jean Miélot, 1400s, Brussels Royal Library, MS 9278, fol. 10r

 

St. John (depicted as a scribe) from Bodleian Library MS Auct. D. 1.17

 

 

Laurence before 1149 as a scribe Durham, University Library. Ms. Cosin V. III. 1. f. 22v.

 

 

Josephus and Scribe Samuel Canterbury 1130 Cambridge, St, John’s College. Ms. A. 8, fol. 103v.

 

 

Scribe writing & illustrating

 

 

Scribe writing

 

St John with a few helpers recording Book of Revelation Book of Hours c 1480

 

Domenico Ghirlandaio Portrait of St Jerome writing in his Study from 1480

 

Geofroy Tory (1480-1533) Scribe with a little divine guidance Book of Hours, Ms. Library of Congress. Rosenwald ms. 10 (1533)

 

Apparently harried scribe writing & holding ink St. Matthew, from the Gospel Book of Archbishop Ebbo of Reims, Hautvilliers near Reims, c. 816 – 35. Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.

 

This scribe appears to have very little power. Augustine De Civitate Dei 1100s Apprentice Everwinus + Master Hildebertus Prague, The Metropolitan Chapter Library. Ms. A XXI-1. f. 153v.

 

Organized scribe Ezra Rewriting the Sacred Records with storage cabinet, from the Codex Amiatinus, Jarrow, early eighth century. Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence.
And, finally, one of my favorites.

 

Could this possibly be a scribe driven to drink? Monk drinking wine out of the barrel Li Livres dou Santé by en Aldobrandino of Siena – France, late 13th century. British Library

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Labels: Illuminated Manuscripts, Illuminated Manuscripts – Scribes

 

Illuminated Manuscripts – Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John writing the Gospels, Germany c 875

 

Illuminated Manuscript, Gospels of Freising, Evangelist Portrait of Matthew, Walters Art Museum Ms. W.4, fol. 33v Freising, Germany ca. 875.
A gospel is an account describing the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The most widely-known gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John.  Some Christians use the term "gospel," otherwise known as the "good news," in reference to the general message of the biblical New Testament.  Here Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John are portrayed with a few of their fierce friends writing about the life of Jesus.

 

Illuminated Manuscript, Gospels of Freising, Evangelist Portrait of Mark, Walters Art Museum Ms. W.4, fol. 90v Freising, Germany ca. 875.

 

Illuminated Manuscript, Gospels of Freising, Evangelist Portrait of Luke, Walters Art Museum Ms. W.4, fol. 126v Freising, Germany ca. 875.

 

Illuminated Manuscript, Gospels of Freising, Evangelist Portrait of John, Walters Art Museum Ms. W.4, fol. 178v Freising, Germany ca. 875.

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Labels: 800s, Illuminated Manuscripts, Illuminated Manuscripts – Religion, Religion, Uncommon Grace

Morning Madonna

 

Unknown Master, Bohemian (active 1350s). Virgin and Child Enthroned
In this blog, I try to begin each day with a painting of the Madonna & Child. It centers me; connects me to the past; & encourages me to post some of the religious paintings which were the core of early Western art.

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Labels: 1300s Madonnas, Madonna and Child, Motherhood, Religion, Uncommon Grace

 

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