A plain or pale stem may have a faint or brown outline, and be “shaded” at the sides (with greys, browns, or yellows) to give an effect of solidity; a stem that is painted in strong colour (e.g. red or blue) may have a central white line painted upon it.
Note that where the initials have backgrounds, the line-finishings are commonly made with backgrounds to match, though their treatment is naturally much simpler (see Plates [XV.], [XVII.]).
[CHAPTER XI A THEORY OF ILLUMINATION ] Illumination — “Barbaric, or Colour-Work, Illumination” — “Filigree, or Pen-Work, Illumination” — “Natural, or Limner’s, Illumination.”
ILLUMINATION
It is convenient to give a wide meaning to the word when we speak of an “illuminated manuscript,” for the scribe works with a very free hand, and when he wishes to decorate his pages he can [p194] write the words themselves in red, green, or blue, as easily as he could have written them in black. He can take a clean pen and a new colour and initial and “flourish” any part of the work to his heart’s content. He may acquire the art of laying and burnishing gold, and no possible brilliance of effect is denied him—within the limits of his skill as an illuminator (see also pp. [298]–[299]).
A limited number of specially prepared printed books can likewise be illuminated. But the greater the number of copies, the less labour may be spent on each one, and the more their illumination tends to be simple “rubrication”—adding coloured capitals, flourishes, and the like (see p. [127]). And, if a large edition is to be decorated, the printer must be content to use black, or black and red, in woodcut or “process” work (see pp. [365], [372]).
Illumination proper may be defined as the decoration by hand, in bright gold or colours, of writing or printing.
There are three broad types of illumination, which for want of better terms I distinguish as “Barbaric” (or colour-work), “Filigree” (or pen-work), and “Natural” (or limner’s). These types run naturally one into another, and they may be blended or combined in every possible way, but it is convenient to consider them and the distinctive treatments which they involve separately.
“BARBARIC, OR COLOUR-WORK, ILLUMINATION”
(See also pp. [203], [208], [209], [215]–[18], [414], [421], [422])
This is mainly a colour treatment in which forms seem to be regarded chiefly as vehicles for [p195] colour. Its effect appeals to the senses, rather than to the imagination; and such interest as the forms have lies greatly in their skilful disposal or intricate arrangement. Sometimes in their fantasy—where organic forms are introduced—as the “great fish” in the act of swallowing Jonah (in order to make the T of ET), [Plate XII.] This type of illumination appears to have reached its climax of barbaric splendour in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.