The scribal arts of
Calligraphy and Illumination

To understand the scribal arts, you must first know the difference between calligraphy and illumination. Calligraphy is the art of physically putting words on the paper. Illumination are the arts used to decorate the page. The term "scribe" can be used to describe one who does calligraphy, illumination, or both.

It was common in the Middle Ages for many people to work on a single page. Often one person, usually the guild master would decide the layout of the page. From there the jobs became specific. One person would paint the opening illuminated capital and another would write the text. A different person could apply the gold leaf. Then comes the painting of the borders, backgrounds for miniature scenes and people themselves, all done by different people. As you can see it used to involve many people after a page was commissioned. Now it is usually done by one or two.


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