Celtic / Insular Illuminated Manuscripts:

Carolingian Manuscripts:

Romanesque / Protogothic manuscripts:

Illuminated Manuscripts - General Overview

An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript decorated with initials, borders and other illustrations (animals, birds, people, etc). The term is used to refer to decorated or illustrated manuscript from the Western or Islamic traditions. An illuminated manuscript is generally a book created no later then the historical period referred to as the Renassaince, usually hand written (but may also include early printed works that have been decorated by hand) and painted or decorated with gold or silver, brilliant colours, or elaborate designs or miniature pictures. At all times, most manuscripts did not have images in them.

The earliest surviving substantive illuminated manuscripts are from the period AD 400 to 600, primarily produced in Ireland, Italy and other locations on the European continent. The majority of surviving manuscripts are from the Middle Ages, although many illuminated manuscripts survive from the 15th century Renaissance, along with a very limited number from late antiquity. The majority of these manuscripts are of a religious nature. However, especially from 13th century onward, an increasing number of secular texts were illuminated.

Most medieval manuscripts, illuminated or not, were written on parchment (most commonly calf, sheep, or goat skin), but most manuscripts important enough to illuminate were written on the best quality of parchment, called vellum, traditionally made of unsplit (calf skin), though other high quality parchment from other skins were also called by the term. Beginning in the late Middle Ages manuscripts began to be produced on paper. Very early printed books were sometimes produced with spaces left for miniatures, or were given illuminated initials, or decorations in the margin, but the introduction of printing rapidly led to the decline of illumination.

Each manuscript consists of vellum leaves, called folios. The majority of the folios are part of larger sheets, called bifolios, which are folded in half to form two folios. The bifolios are nested inside of each other and sewn together to form gatherings called quires. On occasion, a folio is not part of a bifolio, but is instead a single sheet inserted within a quire.

In the making of an illuminated manuscript, the text was usually written first. Sheets of parchment or vellum, animal hides specially prepared for writing, were cut down to the appropriate size. After the general layout of the page was planned (e.g., initial capital, borders), the page was lightly ruled with a pointed stick, and the scribe went to work with ink-pot and either sharpened quill feather or reed pen. When the text was complete, the illustrator set to work. Complex designs were planned out beforehand, probably on wax tablets, the sketch pad of the era. The design was then traced or drawn onto the vellum.

The decorations ("eluminures", illuminations, or miniatures) may be presented under several forms: