By the 16th-century, production plummeted to a record low, and once again, illuminated manuscripts were only reserved for the wealthy elite. The arrival of the printing press in 1440 hailed the end of illuminated manuscripts. In many surviving examples, family monograms, crests, and donor portraits are visible within the text.īy the end of the Middle Ages, illuminated manuscripts were created for secular use, resulting in an archive of decorated texts in mythology, poetry, and history. Families who commissioned these works often passed them on as heirlooms or displayed them in private libraries. While illuminated manuscripts were only available to members of the clergy in the early Middle Ages, manuscripts quickly became sought after by royals, aristocrats, and laymen. The shift of production-from monastery to urban workshop-was radical, yet instrumental in defining the standard of universal education. As a result, illuminated manuscripts began to be produced at large by commercial facilities in Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam, making them accessible to a wider audience. Leaf from a Book of Hours.īy the 14th century, the public demand of manuscripts rose alongside a growing, educated middle class. As a testament to their devotion, it was not uncommon for scribes and illuminators to work in solitude from morning until night. Larger monasteries commonly housed scriptoriums, which were reclusive spaces built for the purpose of writing, copying, illuminating, and binding manuscripts. The process of creating manuscripts required both physical and mental stamina, as the work was incredibly tedious, detailed, and demanding. By extension, the ability to serve within a monastery was deemed a privilege. In many instances, the monastery was the foremost intellectual, religious, and agricultural facility in a medieval city center. In exchange for arduous labor, monastic life offered the comfort of meditation, ascetic discipline, and eternal peace. Until the 13th century, manuscripts were created solely under the devotion of monks and nuns across Europe. Illuminated Manuscript Materials and Production: Depending upon the size and function of each book, different prayers, verses, and illuminations were contained. Oftentimes, churches and monasteries owned many large manuscripts to share among parishioners for daily prayer. An angel companion carries Mary’s trim baggage and at the end of the winding road a Flemish town awaits her.Illuminated manuscript. By contrast to the solemnity of the Annunciation, this image has a certain local and domestic air. The slenderly framed interior is set against a landscape where the pictorial narrative continues, with Mary on her way to visit her cousin Elizabeth. The spacious room evokes aspects of the Church setting which had also become popular first in French and then in Flemish art. In keeping with Flemish tradition, the Annunciation takes place in the Virgin’s bedroom. These miniatures come from a richly illuminated book of hours of Cardinal Albrecht of Brandenburg, Archbishop of Mainz, a great patron of the arts. Simon Bening (1483–1561) and assistants, The annunciation: the hours of the Virgin, Bruges, Flanders, c 1522–23. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, MS 294b (cat no 61). Reproduction by permission of the Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. In keeping with the legendary account, Mary is raised above the ground in ecstasy as she receives her Lord.Ī miniature from the hours of Albrecht of Brandenburg Her long hair, once the source of her beauty, and with which she dried the feet of Christ after washing them with her tears, is now a penitential garment. This scene shows her at the moment of death being brought by angels to receive the body and blood of Christ from the saintly bishop Maximim. According to legend, Mary lived as a penitent in the wilderness around Aix for 30 years. It belonged to the confraternity of Saint Agnes at the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. This miniature once belonged to a Laudario, or lay choir book, which consisted of Italian hymns of praise (’laude’) to Christ, the Virgin and the saints. Pacino di Bonaguida (act 1303–30), The last communion of St Mary Magdalene, Florence, Italy, c 1330 – c 1340. Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, MS McClean 201.4 (cat no 36). Reproduction by permission of the Syndics of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
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