Illuminated manuscript

Illuminated manuscript from the 12th century

A page from the Book of Hours (Use of Metz) with a decorated Initial (c. 1440)

An illuminated manuscript is a handwritten book decorated with gold, silver, or miniature pictures. Illuminated manuscripts were most commonly found in medieval Europe, where Christianity was the state religion of various kingdoms.^[1] Illuminated manuscripts are said to have played a huge role in the history of arts. The ease of carrying illuminated manuscripts from one region to another contributed to the spread of knowledge.^[1] From the 15th century onwards, illuminated manuscripts were replaced by printed manuscripts.^[1]

Illuminated Manuscript Media

Illuminated manuscripts housed in the 16th-century Ethiopian Orthodox Church of Ura Kidane Mehret, Zege Peninsula, Lake Tana, Ethiopia
Chronicon Pictum, the "Illuminated Chronicle" from the court of King Louis the Great of Hungary from 1358
Frontispiece of the Maqamat al-Hariri (1237 CE) depicting a ruler in Turkic dress (long braids, Sharbush fur hat, boots, fitting coat), possibly Baghdad.^[2]
The author of a manuscript at his writing desk. 14th century
A common process of manuscripts illumination from the creation of the quire to the binding
A 13th-century manuscript illumination, the earliest known depiction of Archbishop Thomas Becket's assassination in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170. British Library, London
The 11th-century Tyniec Sacramentary was written with gold on a purple background. National Library of Poland, Warsaw.