A miniature should always be treated as part of the decoration, and not as a picture added to it. If the student examines carefully the best work of the mediæval period he will notice that it is practically impossible to separate the miniature from the rest of the decoration. A strong feeling of unity runs throughout the whole. The greater part of modern work, however, differs in this respect. The miniature is often quite good, so also is the decoration, but they are independent of each other. It would be quite possible to replace the miniature by another totally different. The ideal that he should endeavour to attain to is to make the miniature with the rest of the decoration form one harmonious whole.
Although the miniature should be essentially decorative, there is no need to make it too rigid and conventional. A fair amount of sketching from nature will go a good way towards preventing this. It is not a bad plan for the student to practise making small quick sketches in oils from nature, treating the subject broadly and going for colour. This will help him very much in painting his miniatures in a direct fashion, and, if this is combined with plenty of careful drawing, it should enable him to develop his style of decoration considerably.
With regard to the decoration as a whole, it has often been said that it is impossible to teach one how to design, but that it is possible to direct one in the right way; and there is no better method than that suggested above, viz., a study of nature combined with good examples of work that has been done in the past.
Illuminated Altar Tablet.
When designing, it is a great mistake to strive after originality. The way to be original is to be natural and do the work in the best way that one is able. If the artist does this he is certain to be original, as he cannot help himself. If he strives after originality the work produced will be of an unhealthy type, and will show signs of affectation which will be anything but pleasant.
Imitating someone else is equally foolish, as an imitation can never be equal to the real thing. Art is worth nothing unless it springs spontaneously from the joy of working, without any concentration on its æsthetic aspects. Therefore the thing for the modern illuminator to do is not to imitate either ancient or modern artists, but simply seek to do his best, giving the best workmanship that he is capable of. There are untold possibilities in the future for the development of schools of illumination as great as any of those that have existed in the past.
There are quite a number of different ways in which illumination might be used in the present day. Perhaps it might be useful to suggest a few of these.
The Illuminated Address and the Illuminated MS. Book are so important that separate chapters have been devoted to these.
One of the most important things that illumination can be used for is for the service of the Church.