Medieval and Renaissance Galleries 2008
Introduction
Medieval manuscripts
Before the invention of moveable type in Europe around 1450 ce, specialized craftsmen produced books entirely by hand (Latin: manus, hand). Each leaf was fashioned from scraped, stretched, and whitened animal skin (parchment) and arranged into a codex format (a book bound into sheets). Scribes then wrote the text with a quill pen in black, brown, or red ink. Thereafter, an illuminator added historiated initials or miniatures with color washes and gold leaf. Until around 1200 ce, book production took place in ecclesiastical scriptoria (writing rooms); thereafter, many laypersons made manuscripts.
Types of manuscripts range from those used during Catholic liturgical rites to private devotional books and secular, scholarly texts. Throughout the Medieval period,
most texts were written in Latin, the commonly spoken language of the Roman Catholic Church. The beauty and intricacy of manuscript leaves reflects the desire of ecclesiastical communities to glorify the sacred character of the liturgy and the Holy Scriptures.
Individual manuscript leaves such as those on view in this gallery originally formed a part of full codices; over the centuries many codices were separated to enable individuals and institutions to acquire representative collections.
Maureen O'Brien
Exhibition images
