Illuminated Manuscript Essay

383 Words2 Pages
Illuminated manuscripts are best known as a product of the medieval Christian church, they actually had their origins in Egypt, nearly four thousand years ago. The first known illuminated manuscript in Egypt was the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Among the scenes commonly contained in the Egyptian Book of the Dead were the funeral cortege and the mummification process, as well as depictions of the deceased in the afterlife. Thanks to the dry climate in Egypt, a number of these ancient manuscripts have survived. Illuminated manuscripts which are manuscripts with decorations. The reason that they were called Illuminated Manuscripts is because the designers would often use gold leaf, or silver to paint the designs, therefore actually illuminating the page when it reflected natural or artificial light and the fact that the pages appeared literally to be "lit up" by the burnished gold. They were created by monks in monasteries for religious purposes , and some were produced for their own libraries, those books were commissioned by royalty, nobility, and others of high rank and wealthy citizens but eventually even ordinary people could purchase them. The very first illuminated manuscripts found are from A.D 400 - 600 during migration period, they were mostly Bibles, prayer books and religious storybooks. One of the most important elements of the Romanesque movement were illuminated manuscripts. There were few major innovations during this movement because it was a continuance of former Eastern European movements but, illuminated manuscripts were pretty specific to the period. Also there was the Gothic Art which was a Medieval art movement. One of the main Gothic art mediums was Illuminated Manuscripts. But During the 1400s Printing press was invented, During the Renaissance, hand illuminated manuscripts were still being made even though the printing press was invented
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