About
the Art Form used in this Irish Blessing
 The
invention of the printing press in 1450 ushered in a new and
glorious age in the printed word. It inevitably heralded the
adjournment of another glorious age, however – the era of writing to
please the eye as well as the mind; the era of illumination. Vast
numbers of highly skilled monastic laborers and artists, who had
been hand-lettering, illumination and painting culturally
significant books and scrolls on animal parchment for centuries,
dwindled to extinction. Lamentably, the knowledge of how to create
such treasures, some of which had taken years and even generations
to complete, also seemed to disappear with the Middle Ages. For
centuries the brilliance of the scribe’s quill lay dormant. Only
recently, following years of disciplined study and translations of
numerous books and passages, has this lost art been resurrected. In
a New World scriptorium, according to obscure medieval methodology,
Scriptoriummaster Kevin Dillon follows in the footsteps of gifted
artisans long dead.
“With the advantage of hindsight, I have determined which are the
most permanent and beautiful of the medieval pigments.” Each color
is made from one of seven semi-precious stones found in the Old
World. Lapis Lazuli (the biblical sapphire), mined in Afghanistan,
produces the deep blue. Even the history of these gems is literally
as rich and intriguing as the colors they yield. Lapis, for example,
was once carried by camel caravan to Arabia where the Moors had the
technology to powder and purify the gems. Missionaries then sold the
powder as far away as Ireland, where it was more expensive than
gold! Celtic monks aptly used it in the writing of the Book of
Kells, the most significant illuminated manuscript in the world.
Because of its beauty and extreme value, this “sacre-bleu” was
chosen for the blue of the Virgin Mary’s robe in Gothic Bibles.
Another romantic image is evoked by the story of cinnabar. The
scribes derived their red pigment from this stone. First, though, it
had to be dislodged from Spain’s seaside cliffs with bow and arrow.
Other gemstones essential to this monastic industry were mined in
such countries as Zaïre and Namibia, each with a story all its own.
Materials and Techniques
Kevin first crushes and powders the stones by hand. He then
removes the impurities, each stone requiring different processes.
Years of trial and error, while tediously deciphering medieval
treatises in different languages, almost drove him to join a
monastery himself. There were no “how-to” manuals on illumination in
historical writings; just an occasional isolated reference, often
using obsolete terminology. But his persistent study was rewarded
with the successful rediscovery of the medieval monks’ artistic
secrets. The base which he adds to the powdered gemstones, rendering
them adherent to the vellum support, includes a glue derived from
boiling the scraps of previously treated skins. The resulting
natural luminosity and permanence of color of the pigments only adds
to the already fascinating media of the medieval artisans.
Each skin is hand selected for its natural marble-like, mottled
markings. Because the trauma associated with conventional slaughter
techniques can spoil an otherwise choice skin, only naturally
stillborn calfskins are selected for manuscript vellum. They
maintain the strength and suppleness needed to survive the
parchment-making process. Precautions are also taken to avoid the
threat of anthrax, which can be contracted from handling animal
matter such as skins. In the scriptorium, skins dry on a stretching
rack modeled after the medieval pattern. Then they are tightened to
the perfect tension before the final scraping with a lunellarium,
the half-moon shaped knife of the parchment maker.
The sharp stylus tip of a dip pen or goose quill emerges from the
solid brass English inkwell, then glides across the velvety surface
of the vellum leaving a crisp, wet trail of Latin, Gaelic or English
script. The ink, blackened by oak galls and nails, was known to the
medieval artists as encaustum. Either interwoven with or bordering
the graceful forms of colored letters and painting are bright,
gleaming shimmers of gold. The medieval masters provide the model
for this technique; beautifully raised, glowing curves of 24 carat
gold leaf that have lasted untarnished for centuries. With his own
breath, Kevin moistens the surface of the gilder’s base ( a
carefully guarded secret formula as all scriptoria processes once
were) and overlays it with 24 carat gold leaf. Polished agate
burnishes the gold to a mirror-like brilliance. Many unfinished
manuscripts lie scattered across desks in his scribe’s chambers
where the work is done in stages. One at a time, the colors are
applied to all the works in progress. Blue first, then all the red,
then each remaining color in turn. Some of the gemstones contain
lead, mercury, copper and even arsenic. But hour after hour, hunched
over his desk, detailing ancillary spindles, scrolls and embellished
floral designs, Kevin takes all the necessary precautions that his
predecessors knew little about hundreds of years ago. In scriptoria
of old, one artist, called the rubricator, would apply only the red,
including all the ruling text lines, musical staves and footnotes.
Each artist, working in assembly line fashion, had their own area of
expertise; parchment makers, scribes, gilders, color grinders,
rubricators, miniature painters and bookbinders. Only the most
skilled scribe or gilder was trained to draw and paint iconography
that glorified the adjoining text. Chief among these artists was
known as the Scriptoriummaster.
Finally, red wax is dripped onto the bottom of each piece and is
imprinted with the artist’s seal. The insignia; the four interwoven
Lombardic style initials, K. J. K. D. Kevin’s works are usually
mounted in frames, into which he often hammers unique period motifs.
Some take book form. Affixed to the back of each is a provenance,
signed by a recognized gem expert at the University of Waterloo,
endorsing the authenticity of all the materials and techniques used.
Points
of Interest
Not only do illuminated manuscripts comprise a magnificent genre
of visual art. They also manifest a wealth of knowledge and
centuries of history. Nevertheless, as they have been for centuries
now, the collections of these invaluable manuscripts are locked away
out of reach – out of sight. Over ninety-five percent of all
illuminated books and manuscripts are stored away permanently in
museum vaults. Only rare works are displayed under glass in dimly
lit museum chambers, the pages being turned only periodically. And
opportunities for people to view these historical manuscripts are
limited. In 1972 the Gospels of Heinrich the Lion, a single volume,
was purchased for 34.5 million DM at Sotheby’s in London, becoming
the most expensive objet d’art at the time. Today, even a
full-colored printed reproduction (of 1,500 copies) of the Book of
Kells costs $18,000 US. No wonder most European museums consider
their collection of illuminated manuscripts to be their most prized
possession! In the 14th century, Jean Duc de Berry, cousin of Louis
XIV of France, among countless other European royals, noblemen and
Church officials, ardently commissioned illuminated manuscripts for
special events and interests. In this century you, too, can
commission an authentic original manuscript reproduction. Thanks to
his dedication to a mission of restoration, Kevin Dillon has revived
the glory of the medieval artists in true renaissance fashion.
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