![]() The parts of the books that were not solid gold, of course, were the actual fine lamb and goat vellum the gold was inlaid on, which was itself extremely valuable at the time, and a treasure of its own nature. The material aspects of the manuscripts became of principal importance, and some of them were made almost entirely out of gold leaf. So began the practice, then, of commissioning golden manuscripts as “gifts” to imperial subjects – both vassal states and church officials. ![]() The fundamental barbarian power structure called for vassals to pledge their loyalty to the king, who kept them satisfied with a supply of treasure and loot. As the Roman empire fell and others rose in its wake – such as the “barbarian” king Charlemagne – illuminated manuscripts, in all their golden glory, became symbols of imperial power and tools of imperial control. As their popularity and use grew, however, spreading in gold and color the word of God across Europe, they came to be valued for more than their religious message, and by more than just the religious-minded. For a few hundred years – roughly 600 – 800 CE – illuminated manuscripts were, first and foremost, the domain of the church, either for clergy, monks, or missionaries. The libraries that monks would develop would be, in many cases, the sole sources of religious wisdom in the land.īack in Rome, manuscripts were primarily religious projects, although it is through illuminated manuscripts that the works of the oldest Greek and Latin poets, historians, and philosophers also survived. These manuscripts were themselves perhaps the most important part of a missionary’s arsenal, both for the infinite wisdom they contained and for the powerful and easily communicable depictions of the story of Christ they made clear.Īs Christianity took hold across Europe, and especially in the British isles, the illuminated manuscript would become one of the most important, if not the most important, facet of monasteries. Although the words themselves would have been illegible, the illustrations were big enough to be seen from a distance, and the entire pages, covered so in gold, would glimmer and shine in the sun, radiating the sacred and divine word of God outward in dazzling brilliance. Imagine the sight it must have been for the poor, illiterate English peasant, having never read or even seen the written word, having never encountered many of the bright colors we today take for granted, and knowing nothing of what is perhaps the “greatest story ever told,” to see for the very first time Augustine, in his flowing robes, walking through the countryside with the gospels held high over his head, pages open and glistening gold in the sunlight. The effect of these books is hard to imagine in today’s saturated media, where both words and pictures are excessively commonplace, but for the time period it would have been a spectacle of unprecedented beauty. They were richly illuminated with huge illustrations depicting dramatic biblical scenes and fully decorated in gold leaf. OLD MANUSCRIPTS ILLUMINATED PROFESSIONALPainstakingly crafted in Roman scriptoriums by teams of professional scribes and artists, these manuscripts were extremely large and ornate affairs. Some of the earliest illuminated manuscripts – such as those that Augustine of Canterbury brought with him from Rome to England to convert the pagans – were missionary texts designed to impart upon pagans the supreme divinity of the word of God. ![]() Ranging thousands of years across all of Europe in a variety of languages and styles, these manuscripts are among mankind’s greatest treasures. The earlier the manuscript, the greater the artistic significance – some of the earliest surviving manuscripts are the most artistically impressive, while for many cultures and periods manuscript miniatures are the only surviving example of art that we have. Illuminated manuscripts are perhaps one of western civilization’s greatest cultural contributions, both for their literary value and their artistic value. ![]()
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