Skip to main content

Illuminated manuscripts.

 Subject
Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
Scope Note: Handwritten manuscripts that have been decorated with gold or silver, brilliant colors, designs, or miniature pictures. Although prevalent in Islamic and Asian societies, the longest tradition of illuminating manuscripts was in Christian medieval Europe, from the 6th-16th centuries, when the art was superseded by printed illustrations. Generally, the manuscripts were both 'historiated', or decorated with relevant paintings, and 'illuminated' in its original sense, meaning decorated with calligraphic initial capital letters using gold leaf. Over time, the term 'illuminated' came to refer to any illustration or decoration in a manuscript. Illuminated manuscripts played a major role in the development of art, partly because of the manuscript's portability in carrying artistic developments from one region to another.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

'Auchinleck manuscript', one of the earliest and largest compilations of Middle English verse, including romances and religious and historical pieces

 Item
Identifier: Adv.MS.19.2.1
Scope and Contents The following description was based primarily upon the conclusions of Pearsall and Cunningham (1977) and Burnley and Wiggins (2003). The numbering system of the items follows that of Pearsall and Cunningham.The Auchinleck manuscript was probably written in London at some point between 1331 and 1340. These dates can be assigned on the basis of palaeographical evidence and internal references. One of these references is the ending of the 'The Anonymous Short English Metrical...
Dates: 1331 - 1340.