Illumination

An illuminated manuscript is a book that has been decorated with designs, small illustrations, ornate initials, or all of the above. Technically, illuminations must include gold or silver, but today we use the term more loosely to describe any hand-decorated manuscript.

The earliest known illuminated manuscripts are from the year 400, though it’s possible that manuscripts were illustrated this way before that. At first, they were made mainly by monks but illuminated manuscripts were very popular among the wealthy and it was soon discovered that money could be made illuminating manuscripts. With the invention of the printing press came the decline of illuminated manuscripts and by the end of the 1500s they were no longer being made.

An illuminated manuscript began as a page layout. Once the creator decided what illustrations, initials, and designs would go where, the text would be copied into the book. It took a lot of practice and patience to be able to write the text by hand into a manuscript because it had to look like it had been done on a computer with even and precise letters all the way through.

Next, the illuminator would add the illustrations throughout the book. The illustrations were drawn first onto a wax tablet and, when they were perfect, traced into the book and filled in with color.

For Information about one illuminator, click here.

Check out this gallery of illuminations from the 8th century, Book of Kells. (The illumination shown at the top of this entry is all from the Book of Kells.)

And this one of Lindisfarne Gospels, also from the 8th century.

Return to main page.

My Current NaNoWriMo Word Count:

3753 / 50000 words. 8% done!

Fra Angelico

Not much is known about Fra Angelico’s early life; we don’t even know his birthday. He was a friar during the 1400s (born sometime in the late 1390s) in Italy. It was at the monastery that he fine-tuned his artistic skills.

Fra Angelico was trained as an illuminator, which means that he added decorations to manuscripts. Though any book can be illuminated, Fra Angelico worked on bibles because he was a monk.

In 1436 Fra Angelico moved to a monastery in Florence where he met a very important member of Florence’s government, Cosimo de Medici. Medici liked Fra Angelico’s paintings and urged him to decorate the monastery—he painted enough frescoes to decorate all the cells. In these frescoes he used very subdued colors such as light pink, and tan, and painted all the figures to look human and earthly. You can see this in the fresco shown below, the Annunciation.
He then created frescoes at the Vatican, including the one shown below, St. Peter Consecrates St. Lawrence as Deacon. Fra Angelico was commissioned to decorate the Vatican so he had to use lots of the most expensive gold and blue made from lapis lazuli. These pricey paints reflected on the patron who paid for the paintings. Brilliantly, Fra Angelico was able to make the figures realistic despite the bright colors and gilding.

For a fresco project, click here.

Return to main page.
__________
And thus begins NaNoWriMo 2007.
Bring on the madness.

0 / 50000 words. 0% done!

All Saints

When a person died doing the work of Christ, early Christians celebrated that person’s sacrifice. The day of his death became a holy day and was considered the birth of that person as a saint. Eventually, so many people had died for Christ that there weren’t enough days in the year to commemorate them all. One day was set aside to celebrate all the saints. The day, called All Saints Day, was originally celebrated on May 13.

Halloween began as a Celtic celebration of the end of the goddess Eiseria’s fertility. It corresponded to the harvest, the end of the earth’s fertility. On this day, it was believed that all the evil spirits would come back to earth to wander among the living and, in order to scare away these evil spirits, people lit bonfires and wore masks. The festival was called Samhain.

In 835, Pope Gregory IV moved All Saints’ Day to November 1 and the two celebrations were combined somewhat.

So what does any of this have to do with art? Take a look at Fra Angelico’s All Saints:
This masterpiece was painted between 1423 and 1424 on wood panel. It once decorated the alter of a church near Florence, Italy, but can now be found in the National Gallery in London, England. Just as each saint had his/her own birth day, each saint in the painting is different. And just as all the saints are now celebrated on the same day, all appear together in this one large painting.

Stay tuned for more about Fra Angelico. In the meantime, have a safe and fun Halloween!

Return to main page.

Create Your Own Clay Monster

Remember making a clay sculpture? Today, decorate your home for Halloween with scary, clay monsters.

Supplies Needed:

2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Salt
1 Cup Water
1 ½ Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Optional Supplies:

Paints
Paintbrushes
Craft Sealant

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Slowly stir in the water and the oil until there are no more lumps. The mixture should be smooth.

When you made your first clay sculpture, you laid out wax paper to protect your workspace. This time, use newspaper. When you’ve created the shape of your monster, press the newspaper against it so the black newsprint smears over your monster. This will make it look darker and dirtier. You could even choose scary phrases to press into your monster, though the phrases will read backward.

Mold the clay into any size and shape monster you like. If you need some inspiration, read Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Poke sticks into the clay to make long, spiky fingernails and teeth. Use sequins to make scales or polka dots. Remember that you are going to heat the monster in the oven so you should stay away from most plastic items (which will melt) and certainly paper (which is prone to catching on fire).

When you’ve finished your masterpiece, place it on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for about 50 minutes. Once the sculpture has cooled you can paint it with a craft sealant to give it a shiny appearance or display the monster without sealing it.

Return to main page.

Create Your Own Ojo de Dios

The Huichol tribe of western-central Mexico doesn’t have TVs or computers or microwaves. They live simple lives, remaining separate from what we think of as society. Instead of a writing system, the Huichol tribe passes on knowledge and stories through traditions, ceremonies, and art. The Ojo de Dios, or God’s eye, is an example of traditional art that is used to pass down knowledge.
An Ojo de Dios is made by wrapping string around sticks. It represents the eye of God which sees and understands all things. The father weaves the inner eye when his child is born and then another layer is added each year until the child turns five. The Ojo de Dios is believed to give protection to the child.

To make your own Ojo de Dios, follow the directions below.
Supplies Needed:

Colored yarn
Two sticks or Popsicle sticks
Scissors
Glue (optional)

Gather your supplies. Your sticks should be about the same length. I recommend using thicker sticks than I used because they kept threatening to snap in half as I wove.

Cross one stick over the other to form and X. If you have small hands, use a little glue to keep the sticks from uncrossing or moving around. Wrap your piece of yarn around the cross and tie and knot. Now you’re ready to begin weaving.

Lay the bound sticks in an X in front of you with the knot on the bottom. You will begin with the upper right stick. Wrap the yarn from underneath so the end is to the left of the stick. Then flip the end back over the stick so it ends to the right. Wrap the yarn under again so the end is to the left of the stick. This makes one complete loop.
Now spin the sticks clockwise and repeat these steps on the nest stick. Continue going around until the eye begins to form. Keep in mind that as you work you are looking at the back of the Ojo de Dios.
Change colors if you’d like, or complete the entire Ojo de Dios with the same piece of yarn. To change colors, just tie a knot between the two pieces of yarn and continue weaving with the new piece. You should tie the knot over one of the sticks because it will be easier to hide. Don’t clip the first color too short. You should do a few rotations with the new color to hide the end before cutting it off.

Return to main page.