Patrons of Illumination
Many monasteries produced manuscripts for the collection in their own libraries, and wealthy individuals commissioned works as a sign of status within the community. Commissioning these works, the wealthy individuals requested that the illuminator place them somewhere in the illumination in a donor portrait. "In a scene from the New Testament, Christ would be shown larger than an apostle, who would be bigger than a mere bystander in the picture, while the humble donor of the painting or the artist himself might appear as a tiny figure in the corner." The inclusion of oneself in artistic endeavors dates back to the time of Justinian and his wife, Theodora, who are prominently displayed in the Hagia Sophia. Additionally, these wealthy individuals "were presented on the first page in all their royal apparel; they are often surrounded by allegorical figures borrowed from antiquity."
Displaying the amazing detail and richness of a text, the addition of illumination was never an afterthought. The inclusion of illumination is twofold, it added value to the work, but more importantly it provides pictures for the illiterate members of society to "make the reading seem more vivid and perhaps more credible.”
Read more about this topic: Illuminated Manuscript
Famous quotes containing the words patrons of, patrons and/or illumination:
“O dark dark dark. They all go into the dark,
The vacant interstellar spaces, the vacant into the vacant,
The captains, merchant bankers, eminent men of letters,
The generous patrons of art, the statesmen and the rulers,
Distinguished civil servants, chairmen of many committees,
Industrial lords and petty contractors, all go into the dark....”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“The Stage but echoes back the publick Voice.
The Drama’s Laws the Drama’s Patrons give,
For we that live to please, must please to live.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“When we want culture more than potatoes, and illumination more than sugar-plums, then the great resources of a world are taxed and drawn out, and the result, or staple production, is, not slaves, nor operatives, but men,—those rare fruits called heroes, saints, poets, philosophers, and redeemers.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)