Manuscript Illumination during the Late Middle Ages
1media/Breviarium_ad_usum_fratrum_Predicatorum_[...]Jean_Pucelle_btv1b8447295h_65.jpeg2023-09-07T14:00:57-07:00Sue Luftscheinc3da4f338cfb5c3d980919bd84c8fb083c380bd64364129plain2023-11-09T11:49:31-08:00Sue Luftscheinc3da4f338cfb5c3d980919bd84c8fb083c380bd6The illumination, or decoration, of manuscripts reached its heights during the Late Gothic period. Manuscripts like Les Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, a commission from Jean, the Duke of Berry to the Limbourg Brothers in 1411, is arguably the most magnificent example of the art of manuscript illumination. The production of manuscripts like this began to move from monastic scriptoria to professional workshops, and their creation became the purview of professional artists. Paris, in particular, became a major center of manuscript production during this period, becoming especially famous for the production of books of hours, prayer books that became increasingly popular for personal use. The decoration of these manuscripts became more and more elaborate and extensive as the number of these manuscripts being commissioned grew. Illuminations (including full or partial page miniatures), marginalia, decorated initials, and pen flourishes and rubrications, served both decorative and practical functions, like marking the beginnings of new sections, highlighting the beginning of new passages or prayers, and reflecting or expanding the main illustration on a page.