The word miniature, derived from the Latin minium, red lead, is a picture in an ancient or medieval manuscript; the simple decoration of the early codices having been miniated or delineated with that pigment. The generally small scale of the medieval pictures has led secondly to an etymological confusion of the term with minuteness and to its application to small paintings (see portrait miniature). Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Red lead is a bright red pigment, in Latin minium after the Minius River in northwest Spain where it was first mined. ... Ancient history is the study of significant cultural and political events from the beginning of human history until the Early Middle Ages. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... A codex (Latin for book; plural codices) is a handwritten book from late Antiquity or the Early Middle Ages. ... In biology, pigment is any material resulting in color in plant or animal cells which is the result of selective absorption. ... Etymology is the study of the origins of words. ... Some links to this page should perhaps link to miniature (illuminated manuscript). ...

Italy and Byzantium, 3rd–6th centuries

Miniature of the Trojan Horse, from the Vergilius Romanus, a manuscript of Virgil's Aeneid, early 5th century.

The earliest extant miniatures series of colored drawings or miniatures cut from the Ambrosian Iliad, an illustrated manuscript of the Iliad from the 3rd century. They are similar in style and treatment with the pictorial art of the later Roman classical period. In these pictures there is a considerable variety in the quality of the drawing, but there are many notable instances of fine figure-drawing, quite classical in sentiment, showing that the earlier art still exercised its influence. Such indications, too, of landscape as are to be found are of the classical type, not conventional in the sense of medieval conventionalism, but still attempting to follow nature, even if in an imperfect fashion; just as in the Pompeian and other frescoes of the Roman age. Image File history File links Miniature_of_the_Trojan_Horse. ... Image File history File links Miniature_of_the_Trojan_Horse. ... 19th century etching of the Trojan Horse The Trojan Horse is part of the myth of the Trojan War, as told in the Latin epic poem The Aeneid of Virgil. ... Folio 14 recto of the Vergilius Romanus contains an author portrait of Virgil. ... A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD. Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC–19 BC), known in English as Virgil or Vergil, is a Latin poet, the author of the Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid, the last being an epic poem of twelve books that... The Aeneid is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who traveled to Italy where he became the ancestor of the Romans. ... // Events Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. ... This article needs translation. ... The Iliad (Greek Ιλιάς, Ilias) tells part of the story of the siege of the city of Ilium, i. ... // Events The Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. ... This article describes the ancient classical period: for the classical period in music (second half of the 18th century): see Classical music era. ... A XIV Century fresco featuring Saint Sebastian Note: Fresco is the NATO reporting name of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17. ...

Miniature of Abraham meeting angels, from the Cotton Genesis, 5th–6th century.

Of even greater value from an artistic point of view are the miniatures of the Vatican manuscript of Virgil, known as the Vergilius Vaticanus, of the early 5th century. They are in a more perfect condition and on a larger scale than the Ambrosian fragments, and they therefore offer better opportunity for examining method and technique. The drawing is quite classical in style, and the idea is conveyed that the miniatures are direct copies from an older series. The colors are opaque: indeed, in all the miniatures of early manuscripts the employment of body color was universal. The method followed in placing the different scenes on the page is highly instructive of the practice followed, as we may presume, by the artists of the early centuries. It seems that the background of the scene was first painted in full, covering the whole surface of the page; then, aver this background were painted the larger figures and objects; and over these again the smaller details in front of them were superimposed. (The painter's algorithm.) Again, for the purpose of securing something like perspective, an arrangement of horizontal zones was adopted, the upper ones containing figures on a smaller scale than those below. Download high resolution version (543x757, 64 KB)Fragment 26v of the Cotton Genesis. ... Download high resolution version (543x757, 64 KB)Fragment 26v of the Cotton Genesis. ... Abraham (אַבְרָהָם Father/Leader of many, Standard Hebrew Avraham, Tiberian Hebrew ʾAḇrāhām; Arabic ابراهيم Ibrāhīm) is the patriarch of Judaism, recognized by Christianity, and a very important prophet in Islam. ... The Annunciation - the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will bear Jesus (El Greco, 1575) An angel is an ethereal creature (meaning it is of the air), found in many mythologies, whose duties are to assist and serve God or the gods of many religious traditions. ... Categories: Art stubs | Illuminated manuscripts ... // Events Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD. Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC–19 BC), known in English as Virgil or Vergil, is a Latin poet, the author of the Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid, the last being an epic poem of twelve books that... Folio 22r from the Vatican Virgil contains an illustration from the Aeneid of the flight from Troy. ... // Events Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. ... The painters algorithm is one of the simplest solutions to the visibility problem in 3D computer graphics. ... Perspective is the choice of a single point of view from which to sense, categorize, measure or codify experience, typically for comparing with another. ...

Miniature of seven physicians from the Vienna Dioscurides, early 6th century.

It was reserved for the Byzantine school to break away more decidedly from the natural presentment of things and to develop artistic conventions. Yet in the best early examples of this school the classical sentiment still lingers, as the relics of the miniatures of the Cotton Genesis, and the best of the miniatures of the Vienna Dioscurides testify; and in the miniatures of the later Byzantine manuscripts, which were copied from earlier examples, the reproduction of the models is faithful. But on comparing the miniatures of the Byzantine school generally with their classical predecessors, one has a sense of having passed from the open air into the cloister. Under the restraint of ecclesiastical domination Byzantine art became more and more stereotyped and conventional. The tendency grows to paint the flesh-tints in swarthy hues, to elongate and emaciate the limbs, and to stiffen the gait. Browns, blue-greys and neutral tints are in favor. Here we first find the technical treatment of flesh-painting which afterwards became the special practice of Italian miniaturists, namely the laying on of the actual flesh-tints over a ground of olive, green or other dark hue. Landscape, such as it was, soon became quite conventional, setting the example for that remarkable absence of the true representation of nature which is such a striking attribute of the miniatures of the middle ages. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x800, 217 KB) One of two illustrations of 7 physicians from the Vienna Dioscurides. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x800, 217 KB) One of two illustrations of 7 physicians from the Vienna Dioscurides. ... The donor portrait of Julia Anicia in the Vienna Dioscurides is the oldest extant donor portrait The Vienna Dioscurides (Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. ... This Buddhist stela from China, Northern Wei period, was built in the early 6th century. ... The most famous of the surviving Byzantine mosaics of the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sofia) in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) - the image of Christ on the walls of the upper southern gallery. ... Categories: Art stubs | Illuminated manuscripts ... The donor portrait of Julia Anicia in the Vienna Dioscurides is the oldest extant donor portrait The Vienna Dioscurides (Vienna, Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. ... Cloister of Saint Trophimus, in Arles, France A cloister (from latin claustrum) is part of cathedrals and abbeys architecture. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

And yet, while the ascetic treatment of the miniatures obtained so strongly in Byzantine art, at the same time the Oriental sense of splendour shows itself in the brilliancy of much of the coloring and in the lavish employment of gold. In the miniatures of Byzantine manuscripts. are first seen those backgrounds of bright gold which afterwards appear in such profusion in the productions of every western school of painting.

The influence of Byzantine art on that of medieval Italy is obvious. The early mosaics in the churches of Italy, such as those at Ravenna and Venice, also afford examples of the dominating Byzantine influence. But the early middle ages provide but few landmarks to guide the student; and it is only when he emerges into the 12th century, with its frescoes and miniatures still bearing the impress of the Byzantine tradition, that he can be satisfied that the connection has always existed during the intervening centuries. The most famous of the surviving Byzantine mosaics of the Church of the Holy Wisdom (Hagia Sofia) in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) - the image of Christ on the walls of the upper southern gallery. ... Mosaic is a medium of art that may embody the most meaningful iconography in a cultures most important settings, as in the cathedral of Monreale (below), or it may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration. ... Ravenna is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, population 134,631 (2001). ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian: Venezia), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, 45°26′ N 12°19′ E, population 271,663 (census estimate 2004-01-01). ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ...

North-west Europe, 8th–12th centuries

This lavishly decorated text that opens the Gospel of John in the Book of Kells, early 9th century, shows the Celtic style of illumination: decorative and not illustrative.

In the native schools of illumination of Western Europe, decoration only was the leading motive. In the manuscripts of the Merovingian period, in the school which connected Frankland and northern Italy, and which is known as Lombardic or Franco-Lombardic, in the manuscripts of Spain, in the productions of the Celtic school of the British Isles, figure-drawing was scarcely known, serving rather as a feature of decoration than as a representation of the human form. Download high resolution version (760x1012, 238 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... Download high resolution version (760x1012, 238 KB) The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... The Gospel of John is the fourth gospel in the sequence of the canon as printed in the New Testament, and scholars agree it was the fourth to be written. ... This page (folio 292r) contains the lavishly decorated text that opens the Gospel of John. ... This earthenware dish was made in 9th century Iraq. ... A Celtic cross. ... For other uses of the term Merovingian, see Merovingian (disambiguation). ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, from which the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Scandinavia that entered the late Roman Empire. ... A Celtic cross. ... The British Isles consist of Great Britain, Ireland and a number of much smaller surrounding islands. ...

The Anglo-Saxon school, developed especially at Canterbury and Winchester, which probably derived its characteristic free-hand drawing from classical Roman models, scarcely influenced by the Byzantine element. The highest qualities of the miniatures of the 10th and 11th century of this school lie in fine outline drawing, which had a lasting influence on the English miniature of the later centuries. But the southern Anglo-Saxon school rather stands apart from the general line of development of the western medieval miniature. The Anglo-Saxons refers collectively to the groups of Germanic tribes who achieved dominance in southern Britain from the mid-5th century, forming the basis for the modern English nation. ... Location within the British Isles St Peters St, Canterbury, from the West Gate, 1993 Canterbury is a cathedral city in the county of Kent in southeast England. ... Location within the British Isles Winchester Cathedral as seen from Cathedral Close Arms of Winchester City Council King Arthurs Round Table Winchester is a city in southern England, with a population of around 35,000. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100. ...

Under the Carolingian monarchs there developed a school of painting derived from classical models, chiefly of the Byzantine type. In this school, which owed its origin to the encouragement of Charlemagne, it is seen that the miniature appears in two forms. First, there is the truly conventional miniature following the Byzantine model, the subjects being generally the portraits of the Evangelists, or portraits of the emperors themselves: the figures formal; the pages brilliantly colored and gilded, generally set in architectural surroundings of a fixed type, and devoid of landscape in the real sense of the word. Accompanied as it was with profuse decoration in border and initial, it set the pattern for the later Continental schools of the West. On the other hand, there is also the miniature in which there is an attempt at illustration, as, for example, the depicting of scenes from the Bible. Here there is more freedom; and we trace the classical style which copies Roman, as distinguished from Byzantine, models. The Carolingians (also known as the Carlovingians) were a dynasty of rulers that eventually controlled the Frankish realm and its successors from the 8th to the 10th century, officially taking over the kingdoms from the Merovingian dynasty in 751. ... Charlemagne is also the name of a column in The Economist on European affairs. ... Evangelism is the proclaiming of the Christian Gospel. ... The Bible (sometimes The Book or Good Book), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, plural of βιβλιον, biblion, book, originally a diminutive of βιβλος, biblos, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos, meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material), is the classical name for the...

Miniature of the baptism of Christ from the Benedictional of St. Æthelwold, 10th century, is an example of the Anglo-Saxon school.

The influence which the Carolingian school exercised on the miniatures of the southern Anglo-Saxon artists shows itself in the extended use of body-color and in the more elaborate employment of gold in the decoration. Such a manuscript as the Benedictional of St. Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester, 963 to 984, with its series of miniatures drawn in the native style but painted in opaque pigments, exhibits the influence of the foreign art. But the actual drawing remained essentially national, marked by its own treatment of the human figure and by the disposition of the drapery with fluttering folds. The style was refined, tending to exaggeration and disproportion of the limbs. With the Norman Conquest this remarkable native school passed away. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (631x815, 86 KB)The Benedictional of St. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (631x815, 86 KB)The Benedictional of St. ... Baptism is a water purification ritual practiced in certain religions such as Christianity, Mandaeanism, Sikhism, and some historic sects of Judaism. ... Christ is the English representation of the Greek word Χριστός (transliterated as Khristós), which means anointed. ... Folio 25r from the Benedictional of St. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... The Anglo-Saxons refers collectively to the groups of Germanic tribes who achieved dominance in southern Britain from the mid-5th century, forming the basis for the modern English nation. ... Folio 25r from the Benedictional of St. ... Location within the British Isles Winchester Cathedral as seen from Cathedral Close Arms of Winchester City Council King Arthurs Round Table Winchester is a city in southern England, with a population of around 35,000. ... Bayeux Tapestry depicting events leading to the Battle of Hastings The Norman Conquest of England was the conquest of the Kingdom of England by William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy), in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman control of England. ...

Miniature of the Madonna and child, from the Parc Abbey Bible, 12th century.

With the awakening of art in the 12th century the decoration of manuscripts received a powerful impulse. The artists of the time excelled in the border and the initial, but in the miniature also there was vigorous drawing, with bold sweeping lines and careful study of the draperies. The artists grew more practised in figure-drawing, and while there was still the tendency to repeat the same subjects in the same conventional manner, individual effort produced in this century many miniatures of a very noble character. The Norman Conquest had brought England directly within the fold of Continental art; and now began that grouping of the French and the English and the Flemish schools, which, fostered by growing intercourse and moved by common impulses, resulted in the magnificent productions of the illuminators of north-western Europe from the latter part of the 12th century onwards. But of natural landscape there is nothing, unless rocks and trees of a stereotyped character can be so regarded. Hence the background of the miniature of the 12th and immediately succeeding centuries became the field for decoration to throw into stronger relief the figures in the scene. And thus arose the practice of filling in the entire space with a sheet of gold, often burnished: a brilliant method of ornament which we have already seen practised in the Byzantine school. We have also to notice the conventional treatment of the sacred figures, which continue henceforward, from a sense of veneration, to be clad in the traditional robes of the early centuries, while the other figures of the scene wear the ordinary dress of the period. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (443x615, 40 KB)Miniature of the Virgin and Child from Folio 20r of the Parc Abbey Bible. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (443x615, 40 KB)Miniature of the Virgin and Child from Folio 20r of the Parc Abbey Bible. ... Madonna is a medieval Italian term for a noble or otherwise important woman. ... The Virgin and Child from folio 20r of the Parc Abbey Bible. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... Flanders (Flemish, Fleming) (Dutch: Vlaanderen (Vlaams, Vlaming), French: Flandre(s), (flamand, flamand), German: Flandern, (flämisch, Flame) has two main designations: a constituent community of the federal Belgian state through its social and political organisations, and through the institutions of the Flemish Community (with its own Flemish government and Flemish...

Northwest Europe, 13th–15th centuries

A capital S contains a miniature of Moses being found by the Pharaoh's daughter. From the Breviary of Chertsey Abbey, 14th century.

Entering the 13th century, we reach the period when the miniature may be said to justify the modern false etymology which has connected the title with minuteness. The broad, bold style of the 12th century gives place to the precise and minute. Books in general exchanged their form from the large folio to the octavo and smaller sizes. There was a greater demand for books; and vellum was limited in quantity and had to go further. Handwriting grew smaller and lost the roundness of the 12th century. Contractions and abbreviations in the texts largely increased in number. Everywhere there is an effort to save space. And so with the miniature. Figures were small, with delicate strokes in the features and with neat slim bodies and limbs. The backgrounds blaze with color and burnished gold; and delicate diaper patterns of alternate gold and color abound. Frequently, and especially in English manuscripts, the drawings are merely tinted or washed with transparent colors. In this century, too, the miniature invades the initial. Whereas in the earlier periods bold flowering scrolls are the fashion, now a little scene is introduced into the blank spaces of the letter. To compare the work of the three schools, the drawing of the English miniature, at its best, is perhaps the most graceful; the French is the neatest and the most accurate; the Flemish, including that of western Germany, is less refined and in harder and stronger lines. As to colors, the English artist affects rather lighter tints than those of the other schools: a partiality is to be observed for light green, for grey-blue, and for lake. The French artist loved deeper shades, especially ultramarine. The Fleming and the German painted, as a rule, in less pure colors and inclined to heaviness. A noticeable feature in French manuscripts is the red or copper-hued gold used in their illuminations, in strong contrast to the paler metal of England and the Low Countries. Image File history File links Breviary_of_Chertsey_Abbey_(folio_6r). ... Image File history File links Breviary_of_Chertsey_Abbey_(folio_6r). ... Moses or Móshe (מֹשֶׁה, Standard Hebrew Móše, Tiberian Hebrew Mōšeh, Arabic موسى Musa), son of Amram and his wife, Jochebed, a Levite. ... Pharaoh (Hebrew פַּרְעֹה (without niqqud: פרעה), Standard Hebrew Parʿo, Tiberian Hebrew Parʿōh, Arabic فرعون) is a title used to refer to the kings (of godly status) in ancient Egypt. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right}. It is housed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... Folio: In bookbinding, a sheet of paper, parchment, or other material folded in half to make two leaves in a codex. ... Octavo has more than one meaning: Octavo is a bookbinding term for a sheet printed to form eight pages of a book when folded, and also a particular size of book. ... Vellum (from the Latin for wool or pelt) is a sort of parchment, a material for the pages of a book or codex, usually made from calf skin. ...

It is remarkable how the art of the miniature throughout the 13th century maintains its high quality both in drawing and color without any very striking change. Throughout the century the Bible and the Psalter were in favor; and naturally the same subjects and the same scenes ran through the period and were repeated by artist after artist; and the very character of those sacred books would tend to restrain innovation. But towards the close of the period such secular works as the romances were growing in popularity, and afforded a wider field for the invention of the illustrating artist. Therefore with the opening of the i4th century a palpable change of style supervenes. We pass to more flowing lines; not to the bold sweeping strokes and curves of the 12th century, but to a graceful, delicate, yielding style which produced the beautiful swaying figures of the period. In fact the miniature now begins to free itself from the role of an integral member of the decorative scheme of illumination and to develop into the picture, depending on its own artistic merit for the position it is to hold in the future. This is shown by the more prominent place that the miniature now assumes, and by its growing independence of the decorative border and initial. But, at the same time, while the miniature of the 14th century thus strives to dissociate itself from the rest of the illuminated details of the manuscript, within itself it flourishes in decoration. Besides the greater elasticity of the figuredrawing, there is a parallel development in the designs of the backgrounds. The diapers become more elaborate aiid more brilliant; the beauty of the burnished gold is enhanced by the stippled patterns which are frequently worked upon it; the gothic canopies and other architectural features which it became the practice to introduce naturally followed the development of the architecture of the period. In a word, the great expansion of artistic sentiment in decoration of the best type, which is so prominent in the higher work of the 14th century, is equally conspicuous in the illuminated miniature. The Bible (sometimes The Book or Good Book), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, plural of βιβλιον, biblion, book, originally a diminutive of βιβλος, biblos, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos, meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material), is the classical name for the... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right}. It is housed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to...

In the early part of the century, English drawing is very graceful, the figures bending with a waving movement which, if they were not so simple, would be an affectation. Both in the outline specimens, washed with transparent color, and in the fully. painted examples, the best English work of this time is unsurpassed. French art still maintains its neat precision, the colors more vivid than those of England and the faces delicately indicated without much modelling. The productions of the Low Countries, still keeping to the heavier style of drawing, appear coarse beside the works of the other schools. Nor does German miniature art of this period hold a high position, being generally mechanical and of a rustic character. As time advances the French miniature almost monopolizes the field, excelling in brilliancy of coloring, but losing much of its purity of drawing although the general standard still remains high. The English school gradually retrogrades and, owing no doubt to political causes and to the wars with France, appears to have produced no work of much value. It is only towards the end of the century that there is a revival.

This revival has been attributed to a connection with the flourishing school of Prague, a school which in the scheme of coloring suggests a southern influencefollowing on the marriage of Richard II with Anne of Bohemia in 1382. The new style of English miniature painting is distinguished by richness of color, and by the careful modelling of the faces, which compares favorably with the slighter treatment by the contemporary French artists. Similar attention to the features also marks the northern Flemish or Dutch school at this period and in the early 15th century; and it may therefore be regarded as an attribute of Germanic art as distinguished from the French style. The promise of the new development in English miniature painting, however, was not to be fulfilled. In the first quarter of the 15th century, examples of great merit were produced, but at a standstill in drawing and fettered by medieval convention. The native art practically came to a close about the middle of the century, just when the better appreciation of nature was breaking down the old conventional representation of landscape in European art, and was transforming the miniature into the modern picture. Whatever miniature painting was to be produced in England after that time was to be the work of foreign artists or of artists imitating a foreign style. The condition of the country during the Wars of the Roses sufficiently accounts for the abandonment of art. Thus the history of the miniature in the 15th century must be sought in the manuscripts of the Continental schools. Prague (Czech: Praha, see also other names) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. ... Richard II (January 6, 1367 – February 14, 1400) was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan The Fair Maid of Kent. He was born at Bordeaux and became his fathers heir when his elder brother died in infancy. ... Anne of Bohemia Anne of Bohemia (1366 - 1394) was the daughter of Emperor Charles IV, King of Bohemia and Elisabeth of Pomerania. ... Events End of the reign of Emperor Go-Enyu of Japan, fifth and last of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders Emperor Go-Komatsu ascends to the throne of Japan John Wyclifs teachings are condemned by the Synod of London. ... The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487) is the name generally given to the intermittent civil war fought over the throne of England between adherents of the House of Lancaster and the House of York. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...

The prayer obsecro te illustrated by a miniature of the pietà, from the Book of Hours of Angers, c. 1470s.

First we have to consider northern France and the Low Countries. As it passes out of the 14th and enters the 15th century, the miniature of both schools begins to exhibit greater freedom in composition; and there is a further tendency to aim rather at general effect by the coloring than neatness in drawing. This was encouraged by the wider field opened to the miniaturist. Books of all kinds were illustrated, and sacred books, Bibles and Psalters and liturgical books, were no longer the chief, if not the only, manuscripts which were illuminated. And yet there was one class of manuscript which came into the greatest prominence and which was at the same time liturgical. This was the Horae, or Book of Hours, devotional books for individual use, which were multiplied in vast numbers and contained some of the finest work of the miniaturists. The decoration of these little volumes escaped in great measure from the conventional restraints which their religious character might have imposed. Furthermore, the demand for illuminated manuscripts had by this time established a regular trade; and their production was not confined, as formerly, to the cloister. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (626x878, 117 KB)The prayer obsecro te illustrated by a miniature of the pieta, from the Book of Hours of Angers, c. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (626x878, 117 KB)The prayer obsecro te illustrated by a miniature of the pieta, from the Book of Hours of Angers, c. ... Pietà by Michelangelo, 1499 Marble, height 174 cm, width at the base 195 cm Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican Pietà by Michelangelo, Museo dellOpera del Duomo, Florence Pietà by Rogier van der Weyden, Museo del Prado, Madrid A pietà (pl. ... A illuminated page from the Très Riches Heures showing the day for exchanging gifts from the month of January A Book of Hours is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. ... Location within France Angers is a city in France in the département of Maine-et-Loire, 191 miles south-west of Paris. ... Centuries: 14th century - 15th century - 16th century Decades: 1420s 1430s 1440s 1450s 1460s - 1470s - 1480s 1490s 1500s 1510s 1520s Years: 1470 1471 1472 1473 1474 1475 1476 1477 1478 1479 Events and Trends battle of Avenches 1476 Prominent Persons Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer Categories: 1470s ... The Bible (sometimes The Book or Good Book), from Greek (τα) βιβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, plural of βιβλιον, biblion, book, originally a diminutive of βιβλος, biblos, which in turn is derived from βυβλος—byblos, meaning papyrus, from the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos which exported this writing material), is the classical name for the... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... A illuminated page from the Très Riches Heures showing the day for exchanging gifts from the month of January A Book of Hours is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. ...

Miniature of Mary and Joseph discovering Jesus among the doctors. From the Enkhuisen Book of Hours, late 15th century.

Early in the century the old conventional treatment of landscape still held its own; nor did the diapered and gilded background pass out of use. Indeed, in some of the finest French specimens of the time the diapered patterns are more brilliant than ever. But natural scenery in the second quarter of the century asserts itself more decidedly, although with faults in perspective. It was not until another generation had arisen that there was a true appreciation of the horizon and of atmospheric effect. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (840x1254, 217 KB)Miniature of Mary and Joseph discover Jesus among the doctors. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (840x1254, 217 KB)Miniature of Mary and Joseph discover Jesus among the doctors. ... In Christianity according to the New Testament, Mary (Judæo-Aramaic מרים Maryām Bitter; Septuagint Greek Μαριαμ, Mariam, Μαρια, Maria; Arabic: Maryem, مريم) was the mother of Jesus of Nazareth and at the time of his conception was the betrothed wife of Joseph, awaiting the customary Home-Taking that would permit them to... Saint Joseph, also referred to as Joseph the Betrothed and as Joseph of Nazareth, was the father (according to the law) of Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 1:16; Luke 3:23) and the husband of Mary. ... Jesus (Greek: Ἰησοῦς Iēsoûs), also known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, is Christianitys central figure, both as Messiah and, for most Christians, as God incarnate. ... A illuminated page from the Très Riches Heures showing the day for exchanging gifts from the month of January A Book of Hours is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...

The miniatures of the French and Flemish schools run fairly parallel for a time, but after the middle of the century national characteristics become more marked and divergent. The French miniature began to deteriorate, though some very fine examples were produced by the more gifted artists of the school. The figure-drawing was more careless, and the painting tended to hardness without depth, which the artist endeavoured to relieve by an excess of gilt shading.

The Flemish school in the latter part of the 15th century attained to its highest excellence. The Flemish miniature affected extreme softness and depth of color; also an ever-increasing carefulness in the treatment of details, of the draperies, of the expression of the features: the Flemish type of the Virgin's face, for example, with its full, high forehead, can never be mistaken. In the best Flemish miniatures of the period the artist succeeds in presenting a wonderful softness and glow of color; nor did the high standard cease with the 15th century, for many excellent specimens still remain to attest the favor in which it was held for a few decades longer.

In the foregoing remarks what has been said in regard to the careful treatment of details applies still more to the miniatures executed in grisaille, in which the absence of color invited an even stronger accentuation of that treatment. This is perhaps most observable in the grisaille miniatures of northern Flanders, which often suggest, particularly in the strong angular lines of the draperies, a connection with the art of the wood engraver. Grisaille (Fr. ... Flanders (Flemish, Fleming) (Dutch: Vlaanderen (Vlaams, Vlaming), French: Flandre(s), (flamand, flamand), German: Flandern, (flämisch, Flame) has two main designations: a constituent community of the federal Belgian state through its social and political organisations, and through the institutions of the Flemish Community (with its own Flemish government and Flemish...

Italy, 13th–15th centuries

Miniature of the Annuciation to the Shepherds, from a Book of Hours (Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. 470).

The Flemish miniature did not, however, hold the favor of western Europe without a rival. That rival had arisen in the south, and had come to perfection concurrently with the miniature of the Low Countries in the 15th century. This was the Italian miniature, which passed through the same stages as the miniatures of England and France and the Low Countries. Intercommunication between the countries of Europe was too well established for the case to be otherwise. In Italian manuscripts of the normal type the influence of Byzantine art is very manifest during the 13th and 14th centuries. The old system of painting the flesh tints upon olive green or some similar pigment, which is left exposed on the lines of the features, thus obtaining a swarthy complexion, continued to be practised in a more or less modified form into the 15th century. As a rule, the pigments used are more opaque than those employed in the northern schools; and the artist trusted more to color alone to obtain the desired effect than to the mixture of color and gold which gave such brilliant results in the diapered patterns of France. The vivid scarlet of the Italian miniaturists is peculiarly their own. The figure-drawing is less realistic than the contemporary art of English and French manuscripts, the human form being often thick-set. In general, the Italian miniature, before its great expansion in the 14th century, is far behind the miniatures of the north. But with the 15th century, under the influence of the Renaissance, it advanced into the front rank and rivalled the best work of the Flemish school. The use of thicker pigments enabled the miniaturist to obtain the hard and polished surface so characteristic of his work, and to maintain sharpness of outline, without losing the depth and richness of color which compare with the same qualities in the Flemish school. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (463x738, 74 KB)Miniature of the Annuciation to the Shepherds, from a Book of Hours (Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (463x738, 74 KB)Miniature of the Annuciation to the Shepherds, from a Book of Hours (Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. ... These two pages from a Book of Hours in the Biblioteca Trivulziana contain a miniature of the Annunciation to the Shepherds and a decorated initial. ... By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance *French Renaissance *German Renaissance *English Renaissance The Renaissance, also known as Il Rinascimento (in Italian), was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ...

The Italian style was followed in the manuscripts of Provence in the 14th and 15th centuries. It had its effect, too, on the school of northern France, by which it was also influenced in turn. In the manuscripts of southern Germany it is also in evidence. But the principles which have been reviewed as guiding the development of the miniature in the more important schools apply equally to all. Like the miniature of the Flemish school, the Italian miniature was still worked to some extent with success, under special patronage, even in the 16th century; but with the rapid displacement of the manuscript by the printed book the miniaturist's occupation was brought to a close. Provence is a former Roman province and is now a region of southeastern France, located on the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to Frances border with Italy. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... The folder of newspaper web offset printing press Printing is an industrial process for mass production of texts and images, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.

Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• "Le manuscrit médiéval" weblog (in French).