View source for Illuminated manuscript

{{short description|Manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration}}
{{for|the art of miniature painting|Miniature (illuminated manuscript)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
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| image5 = Bartolommeo Caporali - Missale- Fol. 186- Decorated Initial Te igitur (full page) - 2006.154.186.a - Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg|width5=300|height5=
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| footer = Various examples of pages from illuminated manuscripts
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An '''illuminated manuscript''' is a formally prepared [[manuscript|document]] where the text is decorated with flourishes such as [[marginalia|borders]] and [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature illustrations]]. Often used in the [[Roman Catholic Church]] for prayers and [[liturgical books]] such as [[psalters]] and [[courtly literature]], the practice continued into secular texts from the 13th century onward and typically include [[proclamation]]s, [[enrolled bill]]s, [[law]]s, [[charter]]s, inventories, and [[deed]]s.<ref name="Kauffmann2018">{{cite book |last=Kauffmann |first=Martin |chapter=Decoration and illustration |chapter-url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:baaa6ab2-2b9a-4d5e-a159-725aeb68e600 |date=2018-07-26 |title=The European book in the twelfth century |pages=43–67 |editor-last=Kwakkel |editor-first=Erik |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781316480205.005 |isbn=978-1-316-48020-5 |editor2-last=Thomson |editor2-first=Rodney}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Berenbeim |first=Jessica |title=Art of documentation: documents and visual culture in medieval England |date=2015 |publisher=Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies |isbn=978-0-88844-194-2 |series=Text, image, context |location=Toronto}}</ref>

The earliest surviving illuminated manuscripts are a small number from [[late antiquity]], and date from between 400 and 600 CE. Examples include the [[Vergilius Romanus]], [[Vergilius Vaticanus]], and the [[Rossano Gospels]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weitzmann |first=Kurt |title=Late Antique and Early Christian book illumination |date=1977 |publisher=Chatto & Windus |isbn=978-0-7011-2243-0 |location=London}}</ref> The majority of extant manuscripts are from the [[Middle Ages]], although many survive from the [[Renaissance]]. While [[Islamic manuscripts]] can also be called illuminated and use essentially the same techniques, comparable Far Eastern and Mesoamerican works are described as ''painted''.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Laura Sînziana Cuciuc Romanescu |date=2020 |title=ILLUMINATED PAGES. A MIDDLE AGES TRIP IN THE FIELD OF COLOR |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=941065 |journal=Revista Rom&#226;nă de Studii Eurasiatice |language=English |volume=16 |issue=1–2 |pages=7–18 |issn=1841-477X}}</ref>

Most manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on [[parchment]] until the 2nd century BCE,<ref>{{Citation |last=Herodotus |editor-first1=Robin |editor-first2=Carolyn |editor-last1=Waterfield |editor-last2=Dewald |title=Histories |date=1998-03-05 |work=Oxford World's Classics: Herodotus: The Histories |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00271233 |access-date=2024-12-12 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/oseo/instance.00271233 |isbn=978-0-19-953566-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref> when a more refined material called [[vellum]], made from stretched calf skin, was supposedly introduced by King [[Eumenes II|Eumenes]] II of [[Pergamum]]. This gradually became the standard for luxury illuminated manuscripts,<ref name="Davenport 1912 245–251">{{Cite journal |last=Davenport |first=Cyril |date=1912 |title=Illuminated Manuscripts |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41339989 |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Arts |volume=60 |issue=3087 |pages=245–251 |jstor=41339989 |issn=0035-9114}}</ref> although modern scholars are often reluctant to distinguish between parchment and vellum, and the skins of various animals might be used. The pages were then normally bound into codices (singular: [[codex]]), that is the usual modern book format, although sometimes the older [[scroll]] format was used, for various reasons. A very few illuminated fragments also survive on [[papyrus]]. Books ranged in size from ones smaller than a modern paperback, such as the [[pocket gospel]], to very large ones such as [[choirbook]]s for choirs to sing from, and [[Atlantic bible]]s, requiring more than one person to lift them.<ref name="DeHamel2001">{{Cite book |last=De Hamel |first=Christopher |title=The British Library guide to manuscript illumination: History and techniques |date=2001 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-8173-5 |location=Toronto}}</ref>

Paper manuscripts appeared during the [[Late Middle Ages]]. The untypically early 11th century [[Missal of Silos]] is from Spain, near to Muslim paper manufacturing centres in [[Al-Andalus]]. Textual manuscripts on paper become increasingly common, but the more expensive parchment was mostly used for illuminated manuscripts until the end of the period. Very early printed books left spaces for red text, known as [[rubric]]s, miniature illustrations and illuminated [[initial]]s, all of which would have been added later by hand. Drawings in the margins (known as [[marginalia]]) would also allow scribes to add their own notes, diagrams, translations, and even comic flourishes.<ref name="Brown2018">{{Cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Michelle Patricia |title=Understanding illuminated manuscripts: a guide to technical terms |last2=Teviotdale |first2=Elizabeth Cover |last3=Turner |first3=Nancy K. |date=2018 |publisher=The J. Paul Getty Museum |isbn=978-1-60606-578-5 |location=Los Angeles}}</ref>

The introduction of printing rapidly led to the decline of illumination. Illuminated manuscripts continued to be produced in the early 16th century but in much smaller numbers, mostly for the very wealthy. They are among the most common items to survive from the Middle Ages; many thousands survive. They are also the best surviving specimens of medieval painting, and the best preserved. Indeed, for many areas and time periods, they are the only surviving examples of painting.

==History==
[[File:Master of the Boston City of God - Book of Hours (Use of Utrecht)- fol. 63r, Initial with Holy Trinity - 1998.124.63.a - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|275px|thumb|The 63rd page of the Book of Hours (Use of Utrecht), {{Circa|1460}}–1465, ink, tempera, and gold on vellum, binding: brown Morocco over original wooden boards, overall: 59 × 116&nbsp;mm, [[Cleveland Museum of Art]] ([[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], US)]]

=== Latin Europe ===
Art historians classify illuminated manuscripts into their historic periods and types, including (but not limited to) [[Late Antique]], [[Insular art|Insular]], [[Carolingian art|Carolingian]], [[Ottonian art|Ottonian]], [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]], [[Gothic art|Gothic]], and [[Renaissance manuscripts]]. There are a few examples from later periods. Books that are heavily and richly illuminated are  sometimes known as "display books" in church contexts, or "luxury manuscripts", especially if secular works.  In the first millennium, these were most likely to be [[Gospel Book]]s, such as the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]] and the [[Book of Kells]]. The Book of Kells is the most widely recognized illuminated manuscript in the [[Anglosphere]], and is famous for its [[Insular art|insular]] designs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Joshua J. |title=Book of Kells |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Book_of_Kells/ |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> The Romanesque and Gothic periods saw the creation of many large illuminated complete [[bible]]s. The largest surviving example of these is The [[Codex Gigas]] in Sweden; it is so massive that it takes three librarians to lift it.

Other illuminated liturgical books appeared during and after the Romanesque period. These included [[psalter]]s, which usually contained all 150 canonical psalms,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Psalter as Scripture - Response - Seattle Pacific University |url=https://spu.edu/depts/uc/response/new/2013-autumn/bible-theology/the-psalter-as-scripture.asp |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=spu.edu}}</ref> and small, personal devotional books made for lay people known as [[books of hours]] that would separate one's day into eight hours of devotion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stein |first=Authors: Wendy A. |title=The Book of Hours: A Medieval Bestseller {{!}} Essay {{!}} The Metropolitan Museum of Art {{!}} Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hour/hd_hour.htm |access-date=2024-04-12 |website=The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |language=en}}</ref> These were often richly illuminated with miniatures, decorated initials and floral borders. They were costly and therefore only owned by wealthy patrons, often women.

As the production of manuscripts shifted from monasteries to the public sector during the [[High Middle Ages]], illuminated books began to reflect secular interests.<ref name="Kauffmann2018"/> These included short stories, legends of the saints, tales of chivalry, mythological stories, and even accounts of criminal, social or miraculous occurrences. Some of these were also freely used by storytellers and itinerant actors to support their plays. One of the most popular secular texts of the time were [[Bestiary|bestiaries]]. These books contained illuminated depictions of various animals, both real and fictional, and often focused on their religious symbolism and significance, as it was a widespread belief in post-classical Europe that animals, and all other organisms on Earth, were manifestations of God. These manuscripts served as both devotional guidance and entertainment for the working class of the Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Getty Museum |url=https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/bestiary/inner.html |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=Getty Museum |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Medieval Bestiary |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/britannia/anglo-saxon/flowers/bestiary.html |access-date=2024-04-17 |website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref>

The Gothic period, which generally saw an increase in the production of illuminated books, also saw more secular works such as [[chronicle]]s and works of literature illuminated. Wealthy people began to build up personal libraries; [[Philip the Bold]] probably had the largest personal library of his time in the mid-15th century, is estimated to have had about 600 illuminated manuscripts, whilst a number of his friends and relations had several dozen.  Wealthy patrons, however, could have personal prayer books made especially for them, usually in the form of richly illuminated "[[book of hours|books of hours]]", which set down prayers appropriate for various times in the [[liturgical day]]. One of the best known examples is the extravagant {{lang|fr|[[Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry]]|italic=no}} for a French prince.

[[File:Books in the monastery museum (5494269533).jpg|275px|thumb|Illuminated manuscripts housed in the 16th-century [[Ethiopian Orthodox Church]] of [[Ura Kidane Mehret]], [[Zege Peninsula]], [[Lake Tana]], [[Ethiopia]]]]
Up to the 12th century, most manuscripts were produced in monasteries in order to add to the library or after receiving a [[Commission (art)|commission]] from a wealthy patron. Larger monasteries often contained separate areas for the [[monks]] who specialized in the production of manuscripts called a [[scriptorium]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kauffmann |first=Martin |title=Grove Art Online |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |language=en |chapter=Scriptorium |doi=10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t077202 |isbn=978-1-884446-05-4 |chapter-url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:246f3a57-cf61-41d2-bf6e-c067179ffe36}}</ref> Within the walls of a scriptorium were individualized areas where a monk could sit and work on a manuscript without being disturbed by his fellow brethren. If no scriptorium was available, then "separate little rooms were assigned to book copying; they were situated in such a way that each scribe had to himself a window open to the cloister walk."<ref name="Putnam">{{Cite book |last=Putnam |first=George Haven |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000775616 |title=Books and their makers during the Middle Ages: A study of the conditions of the production and distribution of literature from the fall of the Roman Empire to the close of the seventeenth century |date=1897 |publisher=Putnam |location=London}}</ref>

By the 14th century, the [[cloisters]] of monks writing in the scriptorium had almost fully given way to commercial urban scriptoria, especially in Paris, Rome and the Netherlands.<ref name="DeHamel2001"/> While the process of creating an illuminated manuscript did not change, the move from monasteries to commercial settings was a radical step. Demand for manuscripts grew to an extent that monastic libraries began to employ secular scribes and illuminators.<ref name="Kauffmann2018"/> These individuals often lived close to the monastery and, in instances, dressed as monks whenever they entered the monastery, but were allowed to leave at the end of the day. Illuminators were often well known and acclaimed and many of their identities have survived.

=== Greek Europe and the Islamic world ===
[[File:Ruler in Turkic dress (long braids, fur hat, boots, fitting coat), in the Maqamat of al-Hariri, 1237 CE, probably Baghdad.jpg|thumb|Frontispiece of the ''[[Maqamat al-Hariri]]'' (1237 CE) depicting a ruler in Turkic dress (long braids, ''[[Sharbush]]'' fur hat, boots, fitting coat), possibly [[Baghdad]].<ref name="FB232">{{cite journal |last1=Flood |first1=Finbarr Barry |title=A Turk in the Dukhang? Comparative Perspectives on Elite Dress in Medieval Ladakh and the Caucasus |journal=Interaction in the Himalayas and Central Asia |year=2017 |publisher=Austrian Academy of Science Press |page=232 |url=https://www.academia.edu/35061254}}</ref>{{sfn|Hillenbrand|2010|p=126 and note 40}}<ref name="AC">{{harvnb|Contadini|2012|pp=126–127}}: "Official" Turkish figures wear a standard combination of a sharbūsh, a three-quarters length robe, and boots. Arab figures, in contrast, have different headgear (usually a turban), a robe that is either full-length or, if three-quarters length, has baggy trousers below, and they usually wear flat shoes or (...) go barefoot (...) P.127: Reference has already been made to the combination of boots and ''[[sharbūsh]]'' as markers of official status (...) the combination is standard, even being reflected in thirteenth-century Coptic paintings, and serves to distinguish, in Grabar's formulation, the world of the Turkish ruler and that of the Arab. (...) The type worn by the official figures in the 1237 Maqāmāt, depicted, for example, on fol. 59r,67 consists of a gold cap surmounted by a little round top and with fur trimming creating a triangular area at the front which either shows the gold cap or is a separate plaque. A particular imposing example in this manuscript is the massive ''sharbūsh'' with much more fur than usual that is worn by the princely official on the right frontispiece on fol. 1v."</ref>]]

The [[Byzantine]] world produced manuscripts in its own style, versions of which spread to other Orthodox and Eastern Christian areas. This distinct Byzantine style of illumination had a characteristic color palette along with different ways of preparing pigments and ink and a unique finish to the vellum writing surface which was not as conducive to long term preservation as the more texture Western style.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=A. P. Laurie |first=M. A. |url=https://archive.org/details/pigmentsmediumso0000apla/page/64/mode/2up |title=The Pigments and Mediums of the Old Masters |date=1914-01-01 |publisher=Macmillan, London |others=Internet Archive}}</ref> With their [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain|traditions of literacy]] uninterrupted by the Middle Ages, the [[Islamic Golden Age|Muslim world]], especially on the Iberian Peninsula, was instrumental in delivering ancient classic works to the growing intellectual circles and [[universities]] of Western Europe throughout the 12th century. Books were produced there in large numbers and on [[History of paper|paper]] for the first time in Europe, and with them full treatises on the sciences, especially astrology and medicine where illumination was required to have profuse and accurate representations with the text.{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}}

The origins of the pictorial tradition of Arabic illustrated manuscripts are uncertain. The first known decorated manuscripts are some [[Qur'an]]s from the 9th century.{{sfn|Snelders|2010|p=3, note 14}} They were not illustrated, but were "illuminated" with decorations of the frontispieces or headings.{{sfn|Snelders|2010|p=3, note 14}} The tradition of illustrated manuscripts started with the [[Graeco-Arabic translation movement]] and the creation of scientific and technical treatises often based on Greek scientific knowledge, such as the Arabic versions of ''[[The Book of Fixed Stars]]'' (965 CE), ''[[De materia medica]]'' or ''[[Book of the Ten Treatises of the Eye]]''.{{sfn|Snelders|2010|p=3}} The translators were most often Arab [[Syriac Christians]], such as [[Hunayn ibn Ishaq]] or [[Yahya ibn Adi]], and their work is known to have been sponsored by local rulers, such as the [[Artuqids]].{{sfn|Snelders|2010|p=Chapter4, 4th page}}

An explosion of artistic production in Arabic manuscripts occurred in the 12th and especially the 13th century.{{sfn|Snelders|2010|p=3}} Thus various Syriac manuscripts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, such as [[Syriac Gospels, Vatican Library, Syr. 559]] or [[Syriac Gospels, British Library, Add. 7170]], were derived from the Byzantine tradition, yet stylistically have a lot in common with Islamic illustrated manuscripts such as the ''[[Maqāmāt al-Ḥarīrī]]'', pointing to a common pictorial tradition that existed since circa 1180 in [[Syria]] and [[Iraq]] which was highly influenced by [[Byzantine art]].<ref name="MET">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Caqa12aj55wC&pg=PA384 |title=The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261 |date=1997 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-0-87099-777-8 |pages=384–385 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="MET3">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Caqa12aj55wC&pg=PA384 |title=The Glory of Byzantium: Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era, A.D. 843-1261 |date=1997 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-0-87099-777-8 |pages=384–385 |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Snelders|2010|pp=1-2}} Some of the illustrations of these manuscript have been characterized as "illustration byzantine traitée à la manière arabe" ("Byzantine illustration treated in the Arab style").<ref name="MET3" />{{sfn|Snelders|2010}}

The [[Persian miniature]] tradition mostly began in whole books, rather than single pages for [[muraqqa]]s or albums, as later became more common. The [[Great Mongol Shahnameh]], probably from the 1330s, is a very early manuscript of one of the most common works for grand illustrated books in Persian courts.

== Techniques ==
[[File:Archive-ugent-be-7F0C4994-C579-11E7-8646-155E6EE4309A DS-46 (cropped).jpg|left|thumb|Page from a Latin [[book of hours]], with [[miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature]]s of saints.  Book of Hours of Alexandre Petau, 16th century, [[Rouen]], well after printing had become more common.]]

Styles and techniques of manuscript illumination varied by region, and there were distinct differences in aspects like color palette, decoration style, and peak periods of output. Certain places like the Celtic regions specialized in more ornamental details in contrast to the Byzantine pictorial designs, and regions such as Flanders were more prolific in manuscript production much later than other places.<ref name="Davenport 1912 245–251"/>

Illumination was a complex and costly process, and was therefore usually reserved for special books such as altar bibles, or books for royalty. Heavily illuminated manuscripts are often called "luxury manuscripts" for this reason. In the early Middle Ages, most books were produced in monasteries, whether for their own use, for presentation, or for a commission. These monks would work as a collective group to sponsor the patronage of a manuscript, but that in turn shielded their identites somewhat from history: there are more numerous surviving signatures on works from the scibe and less from the illustrations, but often there is simply the signature of the patron monastery.<ref name="Kauffmann2018" /> However, commercial [[Scriptorium|scriptoria]] grew up in large cities, especially [[School of Paris|Paris]], and in Italy and the Netherlands, and by the late 14th century there was a significant industry producing manuscripts, including agents who would take long-distance commissions, with details of the heraldry of the buyer and the saints of personal interest to him (for the calendar of a book of hours). By the end of the period, many of the painters were women, especially painting the elaborate borders, and perhaps especially in Paris.
[[File:Roman de la Rose f. 28r (Author at writing desk).jpg|thumb|The author of a manuscript at his writing desk. 14th century]]

=== Text ===
The type of script depended on local customs and tastes. In England, for example, [[Blackletter|Textura]] was widely used from the 12th to 16th centuries, while a cursive hand known as [[Blackletter#England|Anglicana]] emerged around 1260 for business documents.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Derolez |first=Albert |title=The palaeography of Gothic manuscript books: from the twelfth to the early sixteenth century |date=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-80315-1 |series=Cambridge studies in palaeography and codicology |location=Cambridge}}</ref> In the Frankish Empire, [[Carolingian minuscule]] emerged under the vast educational program of [[Charlemagne]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kitzinger |first1=Beatrice E. |title=After the Carolingians: Re-defining manuscript illumination in the 10th and 11th Centuries |last2=O'Driscoll |first2=Joshua |date=2019 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-057467-8 |series=Sense, matter, and medium |location=Berlin |doi=10.1515/9783110579499|s2cid=241300499 }}</ref>

The first step was to send the manuscript to a [[rubricator]], "who added (in red or other colors) the titles, [[headlines]], the initials of chapters and sections, the notes and so on; and then – if the book was to be illustrated – it was sent to the illuminator".<ref name="Putnam" /> These letters and notes would be applied using an ink-pot and either a sharpened [[quill]] feather or a [[reed pen]]. In the case of manuscripts that were sold commercially, the writing would "undoubtedly have been discussed initially between the patron and the scribe (or the scribe's agent, but by the time the written gathering were sent off to the illuminator, there was no longer any scope for innovation.)"<ref name="DeHamel1992">{{Cite book |last=De Hamel |first=Christopher |title=Scribes and illuminators |date=1992 |publisher=The British Museum Press |isbn=978-0-7141-2049-2 |series=Medieval craftsmen |location=London}}</ref>

The sturdy Roman letters of the early [[Middle Ages]] gradually gave way to scripts such as [[Uncial]] and half-Uncial, especially in the [[British Isles]], where distinctive scripts such as [[insular majuscule]] and [[insular minuscule]] developed. Stocky, richly textured [[blackletter]] was first seen around the 13th century and was particularly popular in the later Middle Ages. Prior to the days of such careful planning, "A typical black-letter page of these [[Gothic art|Gothic]] years would show a page in which the lettering was cramped and crowded into a format dominated by huge ornamented capitals that descended from uncial forms or by illustrations".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Donald M. |title=The art of written forms: the theory and practice of calligraphy |date=1969 |publisher=Holt |isbn=978-0-03-068625-2 |location=New York}}</ref> To prevent such poorly made manuscripts and illuminations from occurring, a script was typically supplied first, "and blank spaces were left for the decoration. This presupposes very careful planning by the scribe even before he put pen to parchment."

=== Engrossing: The process of illumination ===
[[Image:Illumination process.svg|thumb|A common process of manuscripts illumination from the creation of the quire to the binding]]
[[Image:Illumination_execution.gif|thumb|'''ENGROSSING'''<br />
'''I.''' Charcoal powder dots create the outline
'''II.''' Silverpoint drawing is sketched
'''III.''' Illustration is retraced with ink
'''IV.''' The surface is prepared for the application of gold leaf
'''V.''' Gold leaf is laid down
'''VI.''' Gold leaf is burnished to make it glossy and reflective
'''VII.''' Decorative impressions are made to adhere the leaf 
'''VIII.''' Base colors are applied
'''IX.''' Darker tones are used to give volume
'''X.''' Further details are drawn
'''XI.''' Lighter colors are used to add particulars
'''XII.''' Ink borders are traced to finalize the illumination]]
[[Image:Thomas Becket Murder.JPG|thumb|A 13th-century manuscript illumination, the earliest known depiction of Archbishop [[Thomas Becket]]'s assassination in [[Canterbury Cathedral]] in 1170. [[British Library]], London]]
The following steps outline the detailed labor involved to create the illuminations of one page of a manuscript:
# [[Silverpoint]] drawing of the design is executed
# Burnished gold dots are applied
# Application of modulating colors
# Continuation of previous three steps in addition to outlining marginal figures
# Penning of a rinceau appearing in the border of page
# Finally, marginal figures are painted<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Calkins |first=Robert G. |date=1978 |title=Stages of Execution: Procedures of Illumination as Revealed in an Unfinished Book of Hours |journal=Gesta |language=en |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=61–70 |doi=10.2307/766713 |issn=0016-920X |jstor=766713|s2cid=190805404 }}</ref>

The illumination and decoration was normally planned at the inception of the work, and space reserved for it.<ref name=":5" /> However, the text was usually written before illumination began. In the early medieval period the text and illumination were often done by the same people, normally monks, but by the [[High Middle Ages]] the roles were typically separated, except for routine initials and flourishes, and by at least the 14th century there were secular workshops producing manuscripts, and by the beginning of the 15th century these were producing most of the best work, and were commissioned even by monasteries. When the text was complete, the illustrator set to work. Complex designs were planned out beforehand, probably on wax tablets, the sketch pad of the era. The design was then traced or drawn onto the vellum (possibly with the aid of pinpricks or other markings, as in the case of the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]]). Many incomplete manuscripts survive from most periods, giving us a good idea of working methods.

At all times, most manuscripts did not have images in them. In the early Middle Ages, manuscripts tend to either be display books with very full illumination, or manuscripts for study with at most a few decorated initials and flourishes. By the Romanesque period many more manuscripts had decorated or [[historiated initial]]s, and manuscripts essentially for study often contained some images, often not in color. This trend intensified in the Gothic period, when most manuscripts had at least decorative flourishes in places, and a much larger proportion had images of some sort. Display books of the Gothic period in particular had very elaborate decorated borders of foliate patterns, often with small [[drolleries]]. A Gothic page might contain several areas and types of decoration: a miniature in a frame, a historiated initial beginning a passage of text, and a border with drolleries. Often different artists worked on the different parts of the decoration.

Another feature of illuminating manuscripts of the Middle Ages was the use of [[Marginalia]]. These additions were typically found within and around decorative borders of the text. Marginalia found within medieval manuscripts were often unique special messages and details indicative of the precision and careful consideration involved in their production. Marginalia shaped the way the text was read and influenced the reader’s interaction with it. Placement of these decorations and messages prompted the reader to scrutinize beyond the physical book to interpret the text from multiple perspectives.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2020-12-15 |title=Hidden in Plain Sight: Secret Messages in Manuscript Marginalia – History of the Book |url=https://historyofthebook.mml.ox.ac.uk/2020/12/15/hidden-in-plain-sight-secret-messages-in-manuscript-marginalia/ |access-date=2025-02-23 |language=en-US}}</ref>

Marginalia ranged from intricate decorative illustrations to those considered extremely unusual. Some examples of marginalia found within medieval manuscripts included drawings of centaurs, snail and knight combat, warrior women, battles between cats and mice, parables from biblical texts, personified foxes, rabbits, and monkeys, and hidden words and messages buried within the border decorations.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Burgess |first=Anika |date=2017-05-09 |title=The Strange and Grotesque Doodles in the Margins of Medieval Books |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/medieval-marginalia-books-doodles |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Ludicrous figures in the margin |url=https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2020/08/ludicrous-figures-in-the-margin.html |access-date=2025-02-23 |website=blogs.bl.uk |language=en}}</ref> The added drawings and messages of the 13th to 14th centuries were typically devoted to recurring themes and often patterned after other types of popular medieval art such as stained-glass windows, stone carvings, and wall paintings.<ref name=":2" />

=== Paints ===
While the use of gold is by far one of the most captivating features of illuminated manuscripts, the bold use of varying colors provided multiple layers of dimension to the illumination. From a religious perspective, "the diverse colors wherewith the book is illustrated, not unworthily represent the multiple grace of heavenly wisdom."<ref name="Putnam"/> There is evidence of illustratiors planning out color choice in advance, which indicates purposeful choice and design in the finished product.<ref name="Kauffmann2018" /> There is also a great deal of nuance when it comes to the colors and painting of manuscripts. Illuminators would be trained in color combinations and stylistic distinctions by a form of apprenticeship, so the limited number of primary literary sources discussing colors and techniques may not be accurate to what the actual illuminators learned and followed.<ref name=":5" />

The medieval artist's palette was broad:<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Melo |first1=Maria J. |last2=Castro |first2=Rita |last3=Nabais |first3=Paula |last4=Vitorino |first4=Tatiana |date=2018-12-01 |title=The book on how to make all the colour paints for illuminating books: unravelling a Portuguese Hebrew illuminators' manual |journal=Heritage Science |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/s40494-018-0208-z |issn=2050-7445 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Color
! Source(s)
|-
! Red
| Insect-based colors, including:
* [[Carmine]], also known as [[cochineal]], where [[carminic acid]] from the ''Dactylopius coccus'' insect is mixed with an [[alum|aluminum salt]] to produce the dye;
* [[Crimson]], also known as [[Kermes (dye)|kermes]], extracted from the insect ''Kermes vermilio''; and
* [[Lac (resin)|Lac]], a [[scarlet (color)|scarlet]] resinous secretion of a number of species of insects.

Chemical- and mineral-based colors, including:
* [[Red lead]], chemically [[lead tetroxide]], Pb<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub>, found in nature as the mineral [[minium (mineral)|minium]], or made by heating white lead;
* [[Vermilion]], chemically [[mercury sulfide]], HgS, and found in nature as the mineral [[cinnabar]];
* [[Rust]], chemically hydrated [[ferric oxide]], Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>·''n'' H<sub>2</sub>O, or iron oxide-rich earth compounds.
The color red was often associated with imagery like blood, fire, and godly power.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web |title=Colour and Meaning |url=https://colour-illuminated.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/explore/colour-and-meaning#:~:text=Green%20signalled%20new%20life,%20Eden,the%20unusual%20and%20potentially%20dangerous. |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=COLOUR: The Art and Science of Illuminated Manuscripts |language=en}}</ref> It was the most common and inexpensive color and as such was frequently used for initials, lettering, and borders and well as general imagery.<ref name=":22">{{Cite web |title=Decoration and illumination - The University of Nottingham |url=https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/researchguidance/medievalbooks/decorationandillumination.aspx#:~:text=It%20was%20used%20to%20enhance,delicate%20and%20highly%20skilled%20process. |access-date=2024-11-06 |website=www.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Citation |last=Morgan |first=Nigal |title=Illumination – pigments, drawing and gilding |date=2008-03-27 |work=The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain |pages=84–95 |url=https://doi.org/10.1017/chol9780521782180.008 |access-date=2024-12-12 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/chol9780521782180.008 |isbn=978-1-139-05420-1|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
|-
!Pink
|
* [[Pink|Brazilwood pink]], a plant-based pigment extracted from the Asian tree ''Caesalpinia sappan.''<ref name=":1" />
* [[Purple|Orcein purple]], a dye extracted from several species of lichen found all over the globe.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Vieira |first1=Márcia |last2=Melo |first2=Maria João |last3=Nabais |first3=Paula |last4=Lopes |first4=João A. |last5=Lopes |first5=Graça Videira |last6=Fernández |first6=Laura Fernández |date=January 2024 |title=The Colors in Medieval Illuminations through the Magnificent Scriptorium of Alfonso X, the Learned |journal=Heritage |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=272–300 |doi=10.3390/heritage7010014 |doi-access=free |issn=2571-9408|hdl=10362/166241 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Pink was considered a fashionable color and was often found in clothing depictions of aristocrats and in filigree detail work.<ref name=":1" /> It also was used to color illuminated manuscript depictions of walls, lakes, and skies.<ref name=":1" />
|-
! Yellow
| Plant-based colors, such as:
* [[Mignonette (Reseda)|Weld]], processed from the ''Reseda luteola'' plant;
* [[Turmeric]], from the ''Curcuma longa'' plant; and
* [[Saffron]], rarely due to cost, from the ''Crocus sativus''.

Mineral-based colors, including:
* [[Ochre]], an earth pigment that occurs as the mineral [[limonite]]; and
* [[Orpiment]], chemically [[arsenic trisulfide]], As<sub>2</sub>S<sub>3</sub>.
Yellow was often blended with other pigments in order to create natural earth tones, of which were common in medieval manuscript illumination.<ref name=":4" /> Yellow paint would also be layered underneath gold paint in order to create a multilayered gold effect.<ref name=":4" />
|-
! Green
|
* [[Verdigris]], chemically [[cupric acetate]], Cu(OAc)<sub>2</sub>·(H<sub>2</sub>O)<sub>2</sub>, made historically by boiling [[copper]] plates in [[vinegar]];
* [[Malachite]], a mineral found in nature, chemically [[basic copper carbonate]], Cu<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>·(OH)<sub>2</sub>; and
* ''China green'', a plant-based pigment extracted from [[buckthorn|buckthorn (''Rhamnus tinctoria, R. utilis'')]] berries.
Green was a relatively rare pigment on the illuminator's palette.<ref name=":4" /> It was used for landscapes and was often associated with visuals related to the Garden of Eden and rebirth.<ref name=":02"/> Verdigris Green was a specific shade almost exclusively used in cross imagery, and Green Earth was used under other pigments in order to create depth to skin tones.<ref name=":3" />
|-
!Blue
| Plant-based substances such as:
* [[Woad]], produced from the leaves of the plant ''Isatis tinctoria'';
* [[Indigo dye|Indigo]], derived from the plant ''[[Indigofera tinctoria]]''; and
* [[Turnsole]], also known as folium, a dyestuff prepared from the plant ''[[Crozophora tinctoria]]''.

Chemical- and mineral-based colors, including:
* [[Ultramarine]], made from the minerals [[lapis lazuli]] or [[azurite]]; and
* [[Smalt]], now known as [[cobalt blue]].
Blue, especially the pigment ultramarine, was a valuable and rare color and was commonly used in depictions of the Virgin Mary and for the clothing of important religious figures.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Phenix |first1=Alan |last2=Roy |first2=Ashok |date=February 1995 |title=Artists' Pigments: A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics, Volume 2 |url=https://doi.org/10.2307/1506614 |journal=Studies in Conservation |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=69 |doi=10.2307/1506614 |jstor=1506614 |issn=0039-3630|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Less expensive or poorer quality blue pigments were sometimes used for initials, lettering, and borders.<ref name=":22"/><ref name=":5"/>
|-
! White
|
* [[White lead]], chemically [[lead carbonate|basic lead carbonate]], 2PbCO<sub>3</sub>·Pb(OH)<sub>2</sub>, and historically made by [[corrosion|corroding]] sheets of [[lead]] with vinegar, and covering that with decaying matter, such as [[feces|dung]], to provide the necessary [[carbon dioxide]] for the [[chemical reaction]]; and
* [[Chalk]], chemically [[calcium carbonate]], CaCO<sub>3</sub>.
White was used often in association with religious objects or figures, and was also used as an underpigment as to provide a base for other colors and provide depth, notably in instances of combination with blues to create skies and with reds to create different skin tones.<ref name=":3" /> White was also used, especially in the Gothic period, to outline figures and to create layered highlights.<ref name="Kauffmann2018" /><ref name=":5" />
|-
! Black
|
* [[Carbon]], from sources such as [[lampblack]], [[charcoal]], or burnt bones or [[ivory]];
* [[Cephalopod ink|Sepia]], from the ink produced by the [[cuttlefish]], usually for an escape mechanism; and
* [[Iron gall ink]], where in medieval times iron nails would be boiled in vinegar; the resulting [[ferrous acetate|compound]] would then be mixed with an extract of [[oak apple]] ([[oak]] [[galls]]).
Black was used for inking text as well as for outlining facial features and gilded aspects like halos in order to create further depth and visual emphasis.<ref name=":5" /> Black would also be used for "sketching" the illumination before eventually filling it in with color.<ref name=":5" />
|-
! Gold
|
* [[Gold leaf]], gold hammered extremely thin, or gold powder, bound in [[gum arabic]] or egg; the latter is called ''shell gold''.
|-
! Silver
|
* [[Silver]], either silver leaf or powdered, as with gold; and
* [[Tin]] leaf, also as with gold.
Silver would be used for lettering in a similar fashion to gold, to provide shine and beauty to the page.<ref name=":4" />
|}

=== Gilding ===
[[Image:Sakramentarz tyniecki 02.jpg|thumb|The 11th-century ''Tyniec Sacramentary'' was written with gold on a purple background. [[National Library of Poland]], [[Warsaw]].]]
On the strictest definition, a manuscript is not considered "illuminated" unless one or many illuminations contained metal, normally [[gold leaf]] or [[shell gold]] paint, or at least was brushed with gold specks.  Gold leaf was from the 12th century usually polished, a process known as ''burnishing''. The inclusion of gold alludes to many different possibilities for the text. If the text is of religious nature, lettering in gold is a sign of exalting the text. In the early centuries of Christianity, [[Gospel]] manuscripts were sometimes written entirely in gold.<ref name="DeHamel2001"/> The [[gold ground]] style, with all or most of the background in gold, was taken from [[Byzantine mosaic]]s and [[icon]]s. Aside from adding rich decoration to the text, scribes during the time considered themselves to be praising God with their use of gold. Furthermore, gold was used if a patron who had commissioned a book to be written wished to display the vastness of their riches. Eventually, the addition of gold to manuscripts became so frequent "that its value as a barometer of status with the manuscript was degraded".<ref name="DeHamel1992"/> During this time period the price of gold had become so cheap that its inclusion in an illuminated manuscript accounted for only a tenth of the cost of production.<ref name="Lovett2017">{{Cite book |last=Lovett |first=Patricia |title=The art and history of calligraphy |date=2017 |publisher=The British Library |isbn=978-0-7123-5668-8 |location=London}}</ref> By adding richness and depth to the manuscript, the use of gold in illuminations created pieces of art that are still valued today.

The application of gold leaf or dust to an illumination is a very detailed process that only the most skilled illuminators can undertake and successfully achieve. The first detail an illuminator considered when dealing with gold was whether to use [[gold leaf]] or specks of gold that could be applied with a brush. When working with gold leaf, the pieces would be hammered and thinned.<ref name="Lovett2017"/> The use of this type of leaf allowed for numerous areas of the text to be outlined in gold. There were several ways of applying gold to an illumination. One of the most popular included mixing the gold with stag's glue and then "pour it into water and dissolve it with your finger."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Blondheim |first=D. S. |date=1928 |title=An old Portuguese work on manuscript illumination |jstor=1451766 |journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=97–135 |doi=10.2307/1451766 |issn=0021-6682}}</ref> Once the gold was soft and malleable in the water, it was ready to be applied to the page. Illuminators had to be very careful when applying gold leaf to the manuscript because gold leaf is able to "adhere to any pigment which had already been laid, ruining the design, and secondly the action of burnishing it is vigorous and runs the risk of smudging any painting already around it."

== Patrons==
At least in earlier periods, monasteries were the biggest manufacturers of illuminated manuscripts. They produced manuscripts for their own use; heavily illuminated ones tended to be reserved for liturgical use in the early period, while the monastery library held plainer texts. In the early period manuscripts were often commissioned by rulers for their own personal use or as diplomatic gifts, and many old manuscripts continued to be given in this way, even into the [[Early Modern]] period.<ref name="Kauffmann2018" /> Especially after the book of hours became popular, wealthy individuals commissioned works as a sign of status within the community, sometimes including [[donor portrait]]s or [[heraldry]]: "In a scene from the New Testament, Christ would be shown larger than an apostle, who would be bigger than a mere bystander in the picture, while the humble donor of the painting or the artist himself might appear as a tiny figure in the corner."<ref name="DeHamel2001"/> The calendar was also personalized, recording the feast days of local or family saints.

By the end of the Middle Ages even many religious manuscripts were produced in secular commercial workshops, such as that of [[William de Brailes]] in 13th-century Oxford, for distribution through a network of agents, and blank spaces might be reserved for the appropriate heraldry to be added locally by the buyer.  The growing genre of luxury illuminated manuscripts of secular works was very largely produced in commercial workshops, mostly in cities such as Paris, [[Ghent]], [[Bruges]] and north Italy.

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="170" heights="170">
File:Clevelandart 1950.154.jpg|Leaf from a [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] Psalter and [[New Testament]]; 1079; ink, tempera and gold on vellum; sheet: 163 × 109&nbsp;mm; [[Cleveland Museum of Art]] ([[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], US)
File:Old Armenian Manuscript.jpg|Definitions of Philosophy of [[David the Invincible]]; 1280; vellum; [[Matenadaran]] ([[Yerevan]], [[Armenia]])
File:Bifolium with Christ in Majesty in an Initial A, from an Antiphonary MET tr488-2012s1d3.jpg|Detail from Bifolium with Christ in Majesty in an Initial A, from an Antiphonary; {{Circa|1405}}; tempera, gold, and ink on parchment; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)
File:Coëtivy Master - Leaf from a Book of Hours- Angel Chasing a Devil (recto) - 2005.206.a - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|Leaf from a Book of Hours; {{Circa|1460}}; ink, tempera and gold on vellum; leaf: 197 × 143&nbsp;mm; Cleveland Museum of Art
File:Benedictine Antiphonary MET DP158484.jpg|Detail of a L from Benedictine Antiphonary; by [[Belbello da Pavia]]; {{Circa|1467}}–1470; tempera, gold, and ink on parchment, binding: leather over wood boards with copper alloy corner mounts and bosses; Metropolitan Museum of Art
File:Attavante degli Attavanti - Leaf from a Gradual- Initial P with the Nativity - 2003.173 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|Leaf from a Gradual: Initial P with the Nativity; 1495; ink, tempera and gold on vellum; each leaf: 598 × 41&nbsp;mm; Cleveland Museum of Art
File:Master of the First Prayerbook of Maximillian - Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain- Fol. 11r, October - 1963.256.11.a - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|Hours of Queen Isabella the Catholic, Queen of Spain; {{Circa|1500}}; ink, tempera, and gold on vellum; codex: 225 × 152&nbsp;mm; Cleveland Museum of Art
File:Giulio Clovio - Farnese Hours - Google Art Project.jpg|Farnese Hours, an example of a [[Renaissance]] illuminated page; by [[Giulio Clovio]]; 1537–1546; illumination on [[parchment]]; 171 × 111&nbsp;mm; [[Morgan Library & Museum]] (New York City)
File:Four Evangelists - Google Art Project.jpg|Four Evangelists; 1572–1585; 413 × 277&nbsp;mm; from Italy, probably Rome; Morgan Library & Museum
File:Illuminated Quran, Ibn Qasim Dai Abdul-wahhab al-Shirazim Safavid period.jpg|[[Al-Quran]], 1591–92, from [[Safavid Iran]]; [[Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum]] (Istanbul)
File:Heikenoukyou.jpg|[[Heike Nokyo|Heike Noukyou]], 1164–1167, from [[Itsukushima]], [[Japan]]; [[Itsukushima Shrine|Itsukushima Jinja]]
File:Handwritten Guru Granth Sahib manuscript kept at Gurdwara Mattan Sahib in Martand, Kashmir, India 04.jpg|Example of an elaborately decorated border of a [[Sikhs|Sikh]] illuminated manuscript from a 17th-century [[Guru Granth Sahib]] manuscript kept at Gurdwara Mattan Sahib in [[Mattan, Jammu and Kashmir|Martand]], Kashmir, India. It is known as the ''Sunehri'' ''bir'' (golden corpus)
File:RostamMournsSohrab.jpg|The great Iranian hero [[Rostam]] mourns his son [[Sohrab]], whom he has unwittingly slain in single combat. Folio of a manuscript of 1655 of [[Ferdowsi]]'s Iranian [[Epic poetry|epic]] [[Shahnameh]], held in [[Princeton University Library]] Unknown artist. 
File:Shah Namah, the Persian Epic of the Kings Wellcome L0035191.jpg|[[Jinn]], recognisable by their characteristic bestial appearance, gather to do battle with [[Faramarz]], son of Rostam. Leaf from another manuscript of Ferdowsi's [[Shahnameh]] (The Book of Kings)</gallery>

== See also ==
* [[Gothic book illustration]]
* [[Renaissance illumination]]

==References ==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*Alexander, Jonathan A.G., ''Medieval Illuminators and their Methods of Work'', 1992, Yale UP, {{ISBN|0300056893}}
* Coleman, Joyce, Mark Cruse, and Kathryn A. Smith, eds. ''The Social Life of Illumination: Manuscripts, Images, and Communities in the Late Middle Ages'' (Series: Medieval Texts and Cultures in Northern Europe, vol. 21. Turnhout: Brepols Publishing, 2013). xxiv + 552 pp [http://www.h-france.net/vol14reviews/vol14no159booton.pdf online review]
*Calkins, Robert G. ''Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages''. 1983, Cornell University Press, {{ISBN|0500233756}}
* Camille, M. (1992). ''Image on the edge: the margins of medieval art''. Harvard University Press.
* {{cite book |last1=Contadini |first1=Anna |title=A World of Beasts: A Thirteenth-Century Illustrated Arabic Book on Animals (the Kitāb Na't al-Ḥayawān) in the Ibn Bakhtīshū' Tradition |date=1 January 2012 |doi=10.1163/9789004222656_005 |publisher=Brill |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004222656_005}}
* De Hamel, Christopher. ''A History of Illuminated Manuscript'' (Phaidon, 1986)
* {{cite journal |last1=Hillenbrand |first1=Robert |title=The Schefer Ḥarīrī: A Study in Islamic Frontispiece Design |journal=Arab Painting |date=1 January 2010 |pages=117–134 |doi=10.1163/9789004236615_011|isbn=978-90-04-23661-5 |url=https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004236615_011|url-access=subscription }}
*Kren, T. & McKendrick, Scot (eds), ''Illuminating the Renaissance – The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe'', Getty Museum/Royal Academy of Arts, 2003, {{ISBN|1-903973-28-7}}
* [[Lena Liepe|Liepe, Lena]]. ''Studies in Icelandic Fourteenth Century Book Painting'', Reykholt: Snorrastofa, rit. vol. VI, 2009.
* Melo, M.J., Castro, R., Nabais, P. et al. ''The book on how to make all the colour paints for illuminating books: unravelling a Portuguese Hebrew illuminators' manual' ' Herit Sci 6, 44 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-018-0208-z''
*Morgan, Nigel J., Stella Panayotova, and Martine Meuwese. ''Illuminated Manuscripts in Cambridge: A Catalogue of Western Book Illumination in the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge Colleges'' (London : Harvey Miller Publishers in conjunction with the Modern Humanities Association. 1999– )
*Pächt, Otto, ''Book Illumination in the Middle Ages'' (trans fr German), 1986, Harvey Miller Publishers, London, {{ISBN|0199210608}}
*{{citation |last=Rudy |first=Kathryn M. |author-link=Kathryn M. Rudy |url=https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/477/piety-in-pieces--how-medieval-readers-customized-their-manuscripts |title=Piety in Pieces: How Medieval Readers Customized their Manuscripts |publisher=Open Book Publishers |year=2016 |doi=10.11647/OBP.0094 |isbn=9781783742356|doi-access=free |hdl=10023/9562 |hdl-access=free }} {{open access}}
* {{cite book |last1=Snelders |first1=B. |title=Identity and Christian-Muslim interaction : medieval art of the Syrian Orthodox from the Mosul area |date=2010 |publisher=Peeters, Leuven |url=https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2930050/view}}
* Wieck, Roger. "Folia Fugitiva: The Pursuit of the Illuminated Manuscript Leaf". ''The Journal of the Walters Art Gallery'', Vol. 54, 1996.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Illuminated manuscripts}}
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Illuminated Manuscripts |volume=14 |pages=312–320 |first=Edward M. |last=Thompson |author-link=Edward Maunde Thompson |short=1}}

===Images===
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060917232041/http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/exploreArt?typ=2033122 Illuminated Manuscripts in the J. Paul Getty Museum – Los Angeles] (archived 17 September 2006)
*[https://digital.library.louisville.edu/collections/ulrb_mss Illuminated Manuscript Leaves]. Digitized illuminated manuscripts from the University of Louisville Libraries.
*[http://dmr.bsu.edu/cdm4/collection.php?CISOROOT=/IlluminManu 15 pages of illuminated manuscripts from the Ball State University Digital Media Repository]
*[http://www.thedigitalwalters.org/01_ACCESS_WALTERS_MANUSCRIPTS.html Digitized Illuminated Manuscripts] – Complete sets of high-resolution archival images from the Walters Art Museum
* [http://www.armenianchurch.eu/arts Collection of Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts] – A full collection with high resolution images of Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts

===Resources===
*[https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/zz0009gx4f UCLA Library Special Collections collection of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts]
*[http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/welcome.htm British Library, catalogue of illuminated manuscripts] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124144949/http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/welcome.htm |date=24 November 2011 }}
*[http://www.kb.nl/manuscripts Collection of illuminated manuscripts] from the [[Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands|Koninklijke Bibliotheek]] and [[Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum]] in The Hague.
*[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20120107004956/http://corsair.morganlibrary.org/ICAIntro/ICAintroshortdesc.htm CORSAIR]. Thousands of digital images from the [[Morgan Library]]'s renowned collection of medieval and Renaissance manuscripts
*[http://manuscriptminiatures.com/ Manuscript Miniatures], a collection of illustrations from manuscripts made before 1450
*[https://sea.lib.niu.edu/islandora/object/SEAImages%3Alontar A Collection of Indonesian Illuminated Manuscripts | Southeast Asia Digital Library]
Related articles

* [[The Missal of Thomas James]]
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