Illuminated Manuscripts

This is an Illuminated Manuscript

An illuminated manuscript is a handwritten book whose decoration and/or illustration has been painted in gold, silver and rich colours, that make the page shimmer.

Illuminated Manuscripts were used by the early Catholic Church in the Middle ages for prayer and song books and later used for secular (non-religious) books like bestiaries and Record Keeping.

They didn’t have printing presses in the 1300’s so all the manuscripts were hand-written and painted- by monks in a monastery or an artisan

​

The Book of Kells�is one of the most famous Illuminated Manuscripts in the world. It is the Gospel stories written by Celtic people of Ireland and Scotland in 800 AD! Each of the beginning letters often has an illustrated or decorative element.

​

Today, you will be illustrating your own Illuminated Initial! Think about what you like, or what is important to you and include that in your painting.