"This has been an exciting project," said research scientist, Dr Paola Ricciardi. "By combining imaging and spectroscopic analysis — methods more commonly associated with remote sensing and analytical chemistry — and by exploring such a diverse range of manuscripts, we can begin to understand how illuminators actually worked."
"A popular misconception is that all manuscripts were made by monks and contained religious texts, but from the 11th century onwards professional scribes and artists were increasingly involved in a thriving book trade, producing both religious and secular texts. Scientific examination has revealed that illuminators sometimes made use of materials associated with other media, such as egg yolk, which was traditionally used as a binder by panel painters."
Book of Hours illuminated by Vante di Gabriello di Vante Attavanti (act. c.1480-1485), Florence, c.1480 - c.1490 © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Other discoveries include pigments rarely associated with manuscript illumination — such as the first ever example of smalt detected in a Venetian manuscript. Smalt, obtained by grinding blue glass, was found in a Venetian illumination book made c.1420. Evidently, the artist who painted it had close links with the famed glassmakers of Murano. This example predates by half a century the documented use of smalt in Venetian easel paintings.
Analyses of sketches lying beneath the paint surfaces, and of later additions and changes to paintings help to shed light on manuscripts and their owners. One French prayer book, made c.1430, was adapted over three generations to reflect the personal circumstances and dynastic anxieties of a succession of aristocratic women.
Adam and Eve were originally shown naked in an ABC commissioned c.1505 by the French Queen, Anne of Brittany (1476-1514) for her five-year-old daughter. However, a later owner, offended by the nudity, gave Eve a veil and Adam a skirt. Infrared imaging techniques and mathematical modelling have made it possible to reconstruct the original composition without harming the manuscript.
The Museum’s treasures will be displayed alongside carefully selected loans — celebrated manuscripts from Cambridge libraries as well as other institutions in the UK and overseas. These include an 8th century Gospel Book from Corpus Christi College, the University Library’s famous Life of Edward the Confessor, magnificent Apocalypses from Trinity College and Lambeth Palace, London, and a unique model book from Göttingen University.
Visitors will be encouraged to make their own discoveries in the exhibition galleries and online through a new, free digital resource: ILLUMINATED: Manuscripts in the Making. With hundreds of high resolution digital images and infrared photographs, this interactive, cross-disciplinary resource offers users in-depth information on the manuscripts’ contents, patrons, cultural and historical contexts, as well as scientific data relating to artists’ techniques and materials.
With over 300 illustrations in full colour, the authoritative exhibition catalogue encompasses subjects as diverse as the trade in pigments, painting techniques, the medieval science of optics and modern-day forgeries. Catalogue entries and essays by leading experts offer readers insight into all aspects of colour from the practical application of pigments to its symbolic meaning.
“We are delighted to be presenting this exhibition in our bicentenary year,” said director, Tim Knox. “Ten years ago The Cambridge Illuminations was the Museum’s first ever record-breaking exhibition, attracting over 80,000 visitors. People were enchanted by the remarkable beauty and delicacy of the manuscripts. I am convinced that our bicentenary visitors will again be equally inspired by the superb illuminations collected and treasured at the Fitzwilliam for 200 years, and will value this rare opportunity to find out how they were made and how we are preserving them for the future.”
COLOUR: The Art and Science of Illuminated Manuscripts will run during the second half of the Fitzwilliam’s bicentenary year, from 30 July to 30 December 2016. Admission is free.
Editor's Note:
There is a video done by Gresham College in London: The Making Of Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts, Dr. Sally Dormer from the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is quite (forgive the pun) illuminating.
For other attractions at the Fitzwilliam, take a look at the online Hidden Histories exhibit of Ernest Saville Peck, an examiner for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. He became an expert in chemical warfare and established the Anti-Gas School at Halton Camp. In 1918, Major Peck traveled to the United States and advised the US Army Gas School on training troops in anti-gas measures. He later was awarded the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain’s Harrison Memorial Medal in recognition of his work on chemical warfare.
The Frua-Valsecchi Collection
Over the past fifty years, Francesca and Massimo Valsecchi have built up a remarkable collection of paintings, furniture, sculpture, glass and ceramics. This includes the renowned nude portrait of Patricia Preece by Stanley Spencer, William Burges’s painted 'Flax and Wool' cabinet, a Spanish 17th century polychrome wood sculpture of the Christ Child, Art Nouveau Tiffany glass, metalwork and ceramics designed by Christopher Dresser and an extremely rare Meissen porcelain vulture.
These artworks have generously been offered to the Fitzwilliam Museum on long-term loan and the next few months will see over 130 pieces gradually being introduced throughout the galleries. The objects will be displayed throughout the Museum to create intriguing and witty juxtapositions and ‘conversations’, as the works were seen in the Valsecchi’s private home. They can be identified in the galleries by their specially designed labels.
Image: Louis Comfort Tiffany, Small vase with heart-shaped leaves, glass
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