Illumination

Introduction

In the study of illumination, there are differing opinions what what is actually considered to be an illuminated manuscript. For a general definition, they are manuscripts decorated with gold or silver, brilliant colors, and elaborate designs of miniature pictures, initials, and other details on the margins or borders. However, in strictest terms, only manuscripts with gold and silver can be considered illuminated. For the purposes of this essay, I will be referring to this definition. For these manuscripts, illumination was a strategic way to mark the importance of a certain section of the text. It created different levels of priority amongst readers. Illumination was not just for decorative purposes, but keys in which to approach a text.

Generally, it should be noted that silver was less common than gold because it was subject to tarnishing. For silver, a substitute was tin, which was less expensive and does not oxidize as fast. For gold, there were two types used, shell gold and gold leaf. A substitute for gold was also mosaic gold. This was a tin disulfide mixture that could be used like paint which resulted in a pigment which was gold in color, but had a grainy surface once applied to the page. Regardless of which material was used and the size of illustration, there was always a harmony between the text and the painted borders. Although illumination was present in Middle Eastern societies, Europe is where we find the most highly developed techniques of this process, especially from France or the Netherlands.

Setting the Stage

Illuminated manuscripts were thought to have been made exclusively by monks in monasteries, beginning around the 3rd or 5th century. However, entering into the 12th century, there was now an emerging coordination between these monks and private book sellers which created a spike in production and sales. It is unclear at this time whether the monks sought out the book sellers, or vice versa. But what is clear was that there was a clear collaboration. During the 12th century, especially in Europe, it was thought that monks, scholars, and aristocrats were starting to become interesting in classifying and ordering knowledge. Part of this was also creating easier accessibility to knowledge, which meant not only accessing it from other places, but most easily within the manuscript itself. Illumination was a way to point to the most significant information in the text. Because of a lack of page number and other guiding forms of structure, information required another mechanism to show the hierarchy of information. Illumination drew the eye to that section of text, and helped distinguish sections of texts from others that had illustration without any illumination.

Illumination in Manuscripts

At first, designs were limited to simple initials or isolated linear patterns found on the margins. Examples of this kind of design are found in a fantastic 14th century ferial psalter from Italy, (Ferial, Psalter, Catholic Church, UPenn Ms. Codex 1057, Page 133). Although this psalter was constructed during a time when illustrations featuring figures and landscapes were becoming popular, the text contains marginal designs and detailed initials. In this case, there are eight sections that divide the psalm. Those divisions are marked by illuminated margins. As seen in figure 1, the design (are) mostly confined to the border. It is a highly decorative style of illumination and more a signifier for the reader to know it is the the start of different sections of the text. The illustrations are not a figure or object mentioned in the content. The type of gold features in this psalter is gold leaf. Gold leaf was gold that had to be beaten with a hammer and anvil till extreme thinness was reached. Therefore, this method was extremely costly not only because of the gold itself, but because of the metalworkers’ fee. Applying this gold leaf was very labor intensive. Gold leaf had to be applied before the rest of materials used in the illustration. This is because the leaf would stick to the pigments already on the page, and the burnishing of the gold which followed the application would damage any illustration. In the case of this psalter then, where to place the gold had to be mapped out with a light sketch along with the rest of illustration to be later done.

Before the leaf was applied, artists had to lay down a base that the gold would stick to, such as egg white. For a base, artists and monks also favored gesso, a plaster of lead white and sugar colored pink or brown because of a clay ingredient. This colored gesso helped artists see where to exactly lay down the leaf, especially if they were still learning their trade. After the gesso dried in place, the artist would breath on it to make it tacky so the leaf would stick and adhere to the page. The leaf was then burnished with a stone or animal tooth to rub away excess gold and polish it. During the 14th century when this psalter was created, techniques would have allowed large sections applied with gold, but instead this psalter features small circles of gold. This may have been due to a limit in budget or materials when preparing this manuscript, but it may also have had to do with the ability of the illuminator. If they weren't as skilled or as practiced in illumination as they were with illustration, they may have stuck to simple shapes rather than complex figured. For small perfect circles featured on this page (Ferial, Psalter, Catholic Church, UPenn Ms. Codex 1057, Page 183), a colored gesso would have been highly advantageous to use. The designs featured on these margins are not delicate, although it would have taken a delicate hand to lay down the gold. The illuminator was not shaping the gold leaf in sharp points or tiny ridges. Instead the shapes are quite rough which may indicate the experience of either the illustrator or illuminator. However, over time isolated and linear patterns such as these eventually transformed into illustrations of highly detailed miniatures of figures and landscapes. Because the dimensions of this psalter are so small (only 116 x 75 mm), large illustrations and uses of gold would not have fit along with the text. This evolution of illumination had a variety of factors, such as materials with shifting availabilities and new techniques emerging and developing. This changing landscape of the process allowed illuminators to expand out from the constraints of the margin and into illustrations that are more similar to what we see in books today.

Because this is a fairly late example of an illuminated text, it was quite possible that this was owned by an aristocrat for private prayer, rather than be part of a monastery’s private library. While this manuscript was most likely illuminated by a monk, there is also another possibility. Because monks were anxious to own these illuminated manuscripts, they could no longer keep up with production for their private collections and commissioned works. In fact, because of an increase in buyers from the elite class, this created competition between monasteries and aristocrats for illuminated texts. Because of this rise in production, Europe saw an expansion of artists who did illumination outside of monasteries. However, there still is a question on whether or not these illuminators sought out work from the monks or if they were hired. Because of the late dating on this psalter we are examining, there is more suspicion cast on whether a monk or a private artist did the illumination. Regardless of who did the illumination, this psalter features wonderful examples of gold leaf.

Illumination in manuscripts continued (into) as late as the 16th century when popularity for printing books and illustrations took over as the prefered method. However, during this later period from the 12th to 16th centuries, there was a major shift in genre which occurred alongside changes in production and readership. Manuscripts were evolving outside the parameters set by the religious texts that had once held a monopoly on manuscripts. Illuminated texts included an expanse of genre: history, mythology, allegorical narratives, medical treatises, calendars, and even legal documents. Regardless of time period, illuminated manuscripts were very expensive because of the price of labor and material. Therefore, readership tended to be confined to the monks who made the manuscripts and the elite members of society who could afford to commision and purchase the works. What created a spike in production of illuminated texts was the rising popularity was the status these works brought to their owners. More and more of the elite class wanted these symbols of affluence and luxury. Despite the rise of printed books later on, illuminated manuscripts were still very popular among aristocrats. They were highly prized and sought after.

One such case of a secular illuminated manuscripts, is a manuscript titled Livre des faits de Jacques de Lalaing. Created in Belgium in 1530, this Flemish manuscript tells the life of Jacques de Lalaing, a famous knight and tournament fighter from the Middle ages. Produced nearly 80 years after his death, this manuscript was commissioned by a member of the Lalaing family hoping to immortalize and continue the fame of Jacques. There were many uses for a secular text, but in this case this would have been for the family’s private library or featured on display in the home. The audience were not just those who would commission and own these manuscripts, but the other members of the elite class who may see the manuscripts on display. This process of commissioning a manuscript illustrated how the readership of the time were looking for specific stories to be told and remembered. It wasn't a matter of purchasing a manuscript that had multiple copies, but owning something unique. Because of these intricate scenes, it's possible that reading the text became nonessential to understand the story or text. They were a presentation of wealth. Illumination added not only beauty to a text. Now, it attached status not only to the owner, but to the words of the manuscript, as well as the owner. Illumination legitimized a text because of the luxury of the materials.

Livre des faits de Jacques de Lalaing

The artist for this specific manuscript was Simon Bening, one of the greatest masters of illumination who worked for powerful aristocrats and international royal patrons. Bening learned his craft in the workshop from his father. When studying illuminated manuscripts in contemporary times, it is nearly impossible to know the exact ingredients of the illustrations without chemical analysis, which is often a highly invasive technique. While there are surviving manuscripts and treatises that have recipes for pigments and explanations of methods used in illumination, historians can only take these records at face value. Often painters guarded recipes and techniques and only passed them down through apprenticeship. Therefore, Bening learning from his father was not an uncommon phenomenon. This was no longer an anonymous monk illuminating a text, but instead a well known artist, which in itself carried a prestige of its own. The families who had these manuscripts commissioned no longer had to operate within the confines of religion that monks may have insisted upon. As we neared the 16th century, aristocrats were dealing with private and famous artists directly.

As for the illustrations in this manuscript, they are highly different from the horizontal and vertical patterns we looked at previously which remained on the margins. In this page from the manuscript, we see a detailed and complex image of Jacques and a background image of a tent. Unlike our earlier example, this manuscript employs the other type of gold used in illumination: gold shell. This was powdered gold mixed with gum in a shell. This mixture was then applied with a pen or brush only after the colors of the illustration had been laid down. Applying this gold with a brush allowed for delicate and thin details that gold leaf could just not achieve. Because of this, shell gold was used for highlights rather than blocked out areas done in gold. In religious texts, gold shell would often be applied onto illustrations of religious figures, especially for the halos. However, in this case, the highlights are found on clothing, weaponry, and background objects of importance. This was all done to highlight not the significance of a religious figure, but the wealth and gallantry of an aristocratic man. This was no longer a pattern used to divide up a texts or establish a hierarchy of information. Instead, this manuscript demonstrated the wealth and history of a specific family, as well as the exploits a individual and real figure of history. This was a symbol elite families could show off to others in their class, and that meant being able to glean what was being written about in just a glance. Illumination with shell gold also differs from gold leaf in the way it survives time. One of the dangers of gold leaf is that through time it may flake and break off the page. Simon Bening’s work on the Livre des faits de Jacques de Lalaing is an example a work that is from a final period of beautiful Flemish and Italian illumination before illumination tapered out with printing books and illustrations, and the new genre of the portrait miniature.

Conclusion

Despite what should be a harmony between text and illustration in these illuminated manuscripts, the increasingly complex and intricate scenes complicate this relationship. Illumination, because of its inherent status and desirability for the prestige associated with the manuscripts, blurred the distinction of what was priority in the text: the illustrations or the content. The gold and silver serves as distractions to the reader because of its inherent luxury and expense. For the ferial psalter, illumination easily presented this hierarchy to the reader without fault. The design was decorative, but not distracting towards the psalms and hymns. However, the Livre des faits de Jacques de Lalaing tells another story. The illustrations may have distracted from the text rather than prioritize amongst other sections. This is because the illustrations dominated the page, the readers view went to them as a priority, rather than the text. Manuscripts like the Livre des faits de Jacques de Lalaing could now be viewed as a piece of art because the designs were not generic or simple. This could be from a variety of factors, from the size of the image, or how the elite family who commissioned it displayed this work in their home. Looking at these illuminated texts today, our eye is instantly drawn to the gold, and the same was for those living in the time they were created. Illuminated manuscripts were becoming treasured regardless of their content. The evolution of illumination is a fascinating way to show the evolution of artists, readership, and the shifting desireibly of genre in the Middle Ages, but it also created a disjunction between written and visual content.