Fig. 28.
The initial O shown here is an example of what can be done with simple pattern work in the way of diapers. In the illuminated manuscripts from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries a great number of these were used. This simple pattern work is very pleasant, and the student is recommended to study these for himself. He should also study the fine initials with pen-work in red and blue. He can then vary his work by adding blue in addition to red, using a red initial with blue decoration, or vice versâ.
The various forms of simple pattern work, made with simple pen-strokes, and shown here, should also claim his attention. He should endeavour to make borders for himself in this simple way. They may serve as tail-pieces and line finishings, and the construction of these is all good practice in design.
It is excellent practice for the student to write out a number of quotations in this way, in black and red, with nicely-drawn initials and borders of simple pattern work. He should endeavour to guard against making them too florid in treatment, and, above all, should be careful not to employ a lot of meaningless flourishes. The work of the mediæval period affords the best examples for study that he could possibly have.
CHAPTER XIII
THE COLOURS USED BY THE MEDIÆVAL ILLUMINATOR
One can hardly study the illuminated work of the Middle Ages without being interested in the methods employed by the artists of this period. The MSS. still in existence, with colours still fresh and bright, make one curious to know what colours were used to produce this result.
Our knowledge of the colours used in classical times is derived chiefly from Pliny’s “Natural History” and the writings of Vitruvius. Theophrastus, in his work on stones, also adds some description of pigments.
It appears from these writers that the earth colours, such as the ochres and siennas, were well known, as also was the green earth terra verte. Blues and greens were obtained from the ores of copper, one of the most notable being azurite, a blue carbonate of copper. Verdigris was prepared by the action of vinegar on copper. Cinnabar, a native variety of red sulphide of mercury similar to our vermilion, which is the same thing artificially prepared, and orpiment, the native sulphide of arsenic, were also colours used at this period.