5th and 6th graders learned about the most common – yet not very well known – art form from the middle ages.  Illuminations refer to highly decorative letters and pages in books of manuscripts, translated by scribes for royalty. How this art evolved is a mystery -- whether scribes got bored of translating plain text day in and day out is anyone’s guess, but these students created beautiful renditions of illuminations with their own twist: they made their names, surrounded by images that make them unique.

Did you know…?

• The very first illuminations come from Egypt –  the oldest example is called the Ramesseum Papyrus – from 1980 B.C. Other fragments of illuminations were discovered in the Book of the Dead, found in tombs.
• Illuminations became most popular, however, during the middle ages in Europe.
• These are some of the Gothic/Middle Age’s best art form
• Scribes also made zodiac banners, which were carried into battles to show certain groups or rulers.
• Sometimes they would just make the letter bigger. Sometimes they would make different styles of letters: this was where FONTS were born!
• Roman: each letter has thick and thin lines
• Gothic: the lines in these letters are uniform in width
• Serifs: lines and shapes on the ends of letters (sans serif means without serifs)
• Italic: letters that lean to the right
• Script writing: letters that look like handwriting (connected to each other, flowing)