Illuminated Letters

What is an Illuminated Letter/Manuscript?

The term "illumination" comes from illuminate, which means to fill with light. The effect is achieved by using *gold leaf to letters and images which reflect light and appear to glow.

The illuminated letter is usually the first letter of the page and is always enlarged and decorated with heavy ornamentation

Gilding with gold or silver was one of the methods used to illuminate a page. Thin sheets of metal called “leaf” were applied with adhesive to a specific area. In some instances, an entire page is gilded, with text and illustrations added on top of the leaf. In other instances, the metal is used to emphasize a letter or portion of an integral design or image. *We will be using gold paint in place of actual gold leaf.

Three main people were involved in the creation of the illuminated page: The parchment/vellum maker, the scribe (who just copied text), and the illuminator.

Students have already spent some time on the purpose, history, and effects of Illuminated Manuscripts. They will now have the opportunity to create their own illuminated letters using careful planning and sketching and painting their letters with great craftsmanship.

• Students will gain an understanding of how books began to be produced and how information through written word was passed on for centuries.

• Students will describe ways in which art supports literature through decoration and illustration to provide better comprehension and added value to the written word.

• Students will use principles of contrast, unity, movement and balance to provide artistic ornamentation to text.

• Students will have the experience of learning an ancient decorative gilding technique (modified).

REQUIREMENTS

• A border is present and is well designed (4pts)

• Included gold (4pts)

• A clear theme (4pts)

• A painted background (decorated or solid) (4pts)

• Effort and creativity (you didn’t finish in a day and you planned out your letter) (4pts)

• Craftsmanship: (Neat, clean, you took your time, carefully painted. If there are straight lines, a ruler is used.) (4pts)

24 points total