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Calligraphy & Illumination |
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Calligraphy & Illumination |
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Gallery
Images
About
Gilding
Useful
Books
Commissioned
Works
Scribal
Links
Scribes'
Mailing List
Illuminated
Gift Books
Heraldry
Australia Society
I began learning Medieval calligraphy and illumination in 1991, and
am largely self-taught (with assistance from friends--in particular
Robyn Spencer and Steve Roylance, to whom much thanks). I have been
moderately active since then, creating work mostly as presents or
Award scrolls in the SCA*,
plus commissioned pieces. The works shown here are A4 size (roughly
US letter size), and were painted on goat or horse parchment (vellum)
using Windsor & Newton Artists' Gouache, with 23- or 24-ct
goldwork on latex- or PVA-based size or plaster-based gesso, unless
otherwise noted.
Most of the images were scanned from colour photocopies, since their originals were given away long before I bought my scanner (*sigh*). Incidentally, many of the photocopies survived a fire which melted and crisped the top edge of my portfolio, so there is cropped-off damage at the top of several of them. Of course, it does make them look much more medieval...
The images on these pages are all copyright © Christine Robertson 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002. They may not be reproduced by any means whatsoever without my written permission.
* The SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) is a worldwide Medieval-ambience social and educational group.
I'm for hire! Please send me e-mail regarding commissioned pieces or copies of my originals.
As a rough guideline, an original A4 (US letter) page with a short poem, a little goldwork, and a flower/scroll border costs $100-$200 US, depending on amount of text and decoration; a wedding certificate with a fancy border typically costs $200-$400 US. Prints of my work with hand-gilding/detailing cost $15-$25 US.
Click here to see some of my commissioned works
A major contribution to the exquisite beauty of medieval manuscripts is the use of metallic leaf* to decorate the pages. Indeed, strictly speaking, the term "illumination" refers only to such work, as the reflections from the polished metal literally "light up" these pages.
Gold, which never tarnishes, was used extensively; silver less so. Unfortunately, silver leaf tarnishes with exposure to air, and only those books which were rarely opened can now be seen in their original beauty. Most silver now is either a dull grey or an odd navy blue colour. If you have seen pages from the Duc de Berri's Trés Riches Heures or other works by the Limbourg Brothers, the dull grey water in these is actually silver leaf overlaid with a transparent light green glaze, which must have been quite gorgeous when it was new. Aluminium leaf burnishes well and is used as a modern-day substitute for silver.
No scan or photograph can show the full effect of gilding. Raised, burnished goldwork is astonishingly beautiful--the way it catches and reflects the light really has to be seen to be understood. The delight in my clients' faces as they turn the piece I have done for them this way and that, seeing the effect of the gilding, is one of the things I really treasure about making commissioned pieces or gifts.
* "leaf" is very, very thin sheet metal -- about 0.01mm (1/200th of an inch or so).
Useful
Books
Learning by oneself means that books are very important--indeed, the
best advice I can give anyone who wants to learn this style of art is
to begin by copying real medieval works. And since very few of us
just happen to have genuine medieval manuscripts lying around the
house, this means books. The link below leads to a list of books
which I personally have found useful, or know to be highly
recommended. The page is divided into several
sections: sources for medieval calligrapy, general
overviews of medieval manuscripts at both layman and scholarly level,
collections from famous galleries and museums, and facimilie
reproductions of specific books. I have provided what I hope
will be useful reviews/notes.
Now, at this stage I should mention that where you see a link to the book name and/or cover picture, it will take you to Amazon, and if you actually buy this book through them, I will receive a modest commission from them and can buy more books. So naturally I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so!
Useful Books on medieval caligraphy and illumination.
There is a mailing list for those interested in practicing medieval-style calligraphy and illumination. Most of its members belong to the SCA (worldwide medieval-ambience social and educational group), and thus many of the matters discussed are relevant to the group, but the list is a fount of knowledge and practical help. It is a particularly kind and polite group, with very few irrelevant topics discussed. Questions from beginnners are welcome, as are comments from experts. Topics cover all practical aspects of re-creating medieval manuscript pages: paper, parchment (vellum), paints, inks, pens, quills, making pigments and inks, combatting hand fatigue, comfortable writing postures, preserving finished pieces, and much more. The list can either be received as individual mail messages, or a digest with the day's postings combined into a single message. Traffic is currently about 5-20 messages per day.
To join, go to http://www.castle.org/mailman/listinfo/scribes and follow the instructions there.
You will get mail asking you to comfirm that you want to join, and when you do so, a message with useful information about posting to the list or unsubscribing will be sent to you.
GALLERY
Below are scans of many of my works. I remind you that these images are copyright, and may not be reproduced without my permission. That said, permission will not be refused for any reasonable use; and blanket permission is hereby given to reproduce these in SCA publications, provided credit is given to me and my copyright is stated.
Spring's Daughter It is painted on parchmentine, and
measures 10 x 15cm (4 x 5 3/4"). The visual pun is entirely
intentional. Illuminated Wedding
Book Click here
for my web page describing a small Illuminated
Book I created as a wedding
anniversary present for two of my friends in the
SCA
Award Scroll Tournament Scroll This is another Award Scroll (for
winning a tournament in the SCA). The hand is Gothic Textura
Quadrata. It was painted on "parchment-like" calligraphic
paper.
Invitation Laurel Scroll
Nativity Heart's Ease Pater Noster Annunciation
Lady and the Unicorn
This piece was a birthday present for one of my friends
(it's good to be my friend ;-). The text is a haiku written
for her by her partner, who is many years older than her and
almost thought himself beyond the age of falling in love.
Their relationship has been a great joy for both of them.
This is an Award Scroll blank I did for some friends when
they were Prince and Princess in the SCA. It is based on
late 15th century Italian white vinework, and was actually
scanned from the original. The hand is Humanist Bookhand, in
which by this stage I was quite comfortable. It was painted
on plain white watercolour paper.
This was an invitation to attend a special feast to mark the
retirement of our then-Baroness in my local group of the
SCA, the Barony of Rowany (Sydney, Australia). The blank top
section had the invitees' names filled in with nice tall
twiddly Cadel capitals in the same Gothic Batarde
script.
This scroll was presented to a friend in honour of his
becoming a member of the Order of the Laurel, the highest
award for Arts and Sciences in the SCA. It is done on goat
parchment and has raised gilding on plaster-based gesso. The
goldwork has been detailed with patterns of dots. Wax seals
are attached to the two roundels in the bottom corners. The
hand is Gothic Textura Quadrata.
Master Dafydd of the Glens received his Laurel for choir
direction, pageantry, and verse. The initial O shows him
conducting a small group of singers, while his coat-of-arms
is supported by two of the characters from his play
"Macbeth: the Musical." The border decoration tells the
story of one of his best-loved humorous verses, "The
Enchanted Gambeson" (click
here to read the words of this
delightfully silly poem), beginning with the death of Sir
Arbalest, and continuing with Kevin finding the gambeson,
his rise in the tournament circuit, his proposal rejected,
the attempt to bury the gambeson, and finally King Kevin
victorious with his lady, holding the Bar of
Soap.
This piece was created as a birthday present for my older
sister and was one of my early pieces. Is is a straight copy
of two French illuminations from the 1380s, with a Pater
Noster (Lord's Prayer in latin) instead of the original
text. The border is from the Petits Heures and
the miniature from the Tres Belles
Heures, of Jean, Duke of Berry (brother to
the King of France, probably the richest man in France, and
a notable collector). Doing this piece taught me a very
great deal about the mechanics of painting. The calligraphy
style is Gothic Textura Quadrata, which was common
throughout Europe from the twelth century to the mid-1400s.
(The fire damage is very noticeable in this piece; the
borders on the original are quite a bit wider.)
This piece was a birthday present for one of my friends,
done on the spur of the moment the evening before I was
taking her to lunch. The flowers are Kenilworth Ivy, painted
from life--the plants growing on the appartment building
next door just happened to have ONE flower out, though it
was the wrong time of year for them to flower! The text is
one of my own poems in Elizabethan style (click
here to read the text). The
border is based on the Prayerbook of Michellino da
Besozzo, Italian, c. 1410. This is a smaller
illumination, measuring 18cm x 9.8cm. The calligraphy style
is Gothic Batarde, common from the 1400s onwards.
This was also a birthday present piece, based on a
late-1400s Italian page of white vinework. The original
bishop in the initial has been replaced with a picture of
Christ from the same period, and where the bishop's
coat-of-arms would normally be shown in the circle in the
bottom border I have inserted a nativity from the same
period (since it was a present for a friend who did not have
much knowledge of Medieval art I was not particularly
concerned with authenticity). The calligraphy was my first
attempt at Humanist Bookhand; in my arrogance I did almost
no practicing before I wrote out the text on the vellum. I
got the word spacing right about half-way through. I am
particularly pleased with the little nativity scene in this
piece.
This piece was (you've guessed it) a birthday present for
one of my friends -- well, actually, it covered several
Christmasses and birthdays. It is based on the Hours
of Marguerite d'Orleans, c. 1426-38, a stunningly
beautiful French Book of Hours. The text page has the
beginning of the Magnificat rather than the original text,
but the border is a straight copy of one of the text pages.
The miniature is a composite from several sources: God and
the angels are based on one of the Limbourg brothers'
annunciations, as is Gabriel, while Mary is based on
Michellino da Besozzo's annunciation. The room with its
tiled floor, raised platform, wood panelling, and
star-studded ceiling were essentially my own invention,
which is probably why the panelling is structurally a little
strange. Colours of robes etc. were varied to suit my taste.
The border's general look is based on one of the Orleans
Hours' pages, but the strawberries, cranes, and the
bas de page figures are my own. The calligraphy
is Gothic Textura Quadrata. Apart from some rather rough
work in the curves on the text page, this is one of my
pieces I am most pleased with.
This piece was not a birthday present. It is a
composite piece, designed as a fund-raiser raffle prize, and
succeeded very well, raising over $600 (she said modestly).
The border was based on a 1460s French Book of Hours from
the State Library of Victoria, as was the diaper design. The
miniature and trees are much earlier, from the mid-1200s.
The text is a verse from a French trouviere chanson by
Thibaut de Champagne (1201-1253). The calligraphic hand is
Gothic Textura Quadrata again. In case anyone is wondering,
there are about 1200 little squares in the diapering, and
yes, there is a hell of a lot of gold on
it.
To contact me with any comments or enquiries
about commissioned pieces, please send me e-mail:
LINKS TO SCRIBAL INFORMATION and SCRIBES' PAGES
Mark Calderwood, Master Calligraphy Artist -- top-quality medieval and modern calligraphic art
Merouda Pendray's Scribal Information Page -- dozens of links to scribal info of all kinds
Jennifer Fraser's Gallery (click on "far gallery") -- medieval illumination, modern graphic design, useful links
You will notice that many of these works show shields with coats-of-arms on them; this is because heraldry is very important in the SCA. However, heraldry is still alive and flourishing in the 21st century. If you would like to see some modern-day heraldry, click on this link to Heraldry Australia.
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This page created by and copyright © Golden Gryphon Productions & Christine M Robertson 1999 - 2003
