Chapter 4 Flashcards
1
Q
illuminated manuscript
A
- Name used for all decorated and illustrated handwritten books produced from the time of the late Roman Empire until printed books replaced manuscripts after typography was developed in Europe around 1400 bce.
- The vibrant luminosity of gold leaf, which reflected light from the pages of handwritten books, gave the sensation of the page being literally illuminated.
2
Q
Gold Leaf
A
- a method of embellishing illuminated manuscripts by hammering the gold into a fine sheet of gold leaf and applying it over adhesive ground.
- Burnishing for texture, punching, and tooling with metalworking tools were often used on gold leaf for design effects.
3
Q
Scriptorium
A
During the early Christian era, nearly all books were created in the monastic scriptorium, or writing room
4
Q
Scrittori
A
- The head of the scriptorium
- a well-educated scholar who understood Greek and Latin and functioned as both editor and art director, with overall responsibility for the design and production of the manuscripts
- HE laid out the pages to indicate where illustrations were to be added after the text was written. Sometimes this was done with a light sketch, but often a note was jotted in the margins to the illustrator with what to draw in the space
5
Q
Copisti
A
- aproduction letterer
- spent his days bent over a writing table penning page after page in a trained lettering style
6
Q
illuminator
A
The illuminator, or illustrator, was an artist responsible for the execution of ornament and image in visual support of the text
7
Q
Colophon
A
- The colophon of a manuscript or book is an inscription, usually at the end, containing facts about its production.
- Often the scribe or designer (later on the printer) is identified
8
Q
musical notation
A
- invented by scribes working in medieval monasteries.
- As early as the ninth century, punctuation marks were gradually used to denote pauses and pitch changes for chants
- Evolved into the 5 line staff
9
Q
frontispiece
A
Literary sources refer to manuscripts on vellum with a portrait of the author as a frontispiece
10
Q
Classical Style
A
- Typical of the manuscripts dating from the Roman and Greek eras
- Lettered in rustic capitals in one wide column on each page, with illustrations the same width framed in bright bands of color (frequently red).
11
Q
Medieval
A
- meaning “middle”
- The thousand year era lasted from the 5th century fall of the Rome until the 15th century Renaissance.
- After the Roman Empire collapsed in 476 bce, an era of dislocation and uncertainty ensued. Cities degenerated and became small villages; officials left their duties and moved to their country estates; government and law ceased to exist. Trade and commerce slumped and became almost nonexistent, for travel became extremely dangerous.
12
Q
Unicals
A
- Written between two guidelines that were one uncia (the Roman inch) apart
- these letters were actually invented by the Greeks as early as the 3rd century bce.
- Unicals are rounded, freely drawn majuscule letters more suited to rapid writing than either square capitals or rustic capitals. The curves reduces the number of strokes required to make many letterforms, and the number of angular joints-which have a tendency to clog pr close up with ink-was severely reduced.
13
Q
Uncia
A
The Roman Inch
14
Q
semi-uncial or half-uncial
A
- Four guidelines were used instead of two, and strokes were allowed to soar above and sink below the two principal lines, creating true ascenders and descenders.
- The pen was held flatly horizontal to the baseline, which gave the forms a strong vertical axis.
- Half uncials were easy to write and had increased legibility because the visual differentiation between the letters was improved.
- Although some half-uncials appeared in the 3rd century ce, they did not flourish until the late 6th century
15
Q
majuscule
A
A capital letter
