Twelve pages of a very condensed history of the illuminated initial in manuscripts from western Europe. Covering the 1000+ years between Late Antiquity and the Gothic period, passing by Insular and Merovingian, Carolingan, Ottonian and Romanesque styles/periods.

One main thread across these centuries is the push and pull between classical clarity, separation and definition versus medieval ambigious weaving and merging of text, image and decoration.

18/365 #calligraphicspace #medieval

Remixing images from a Hildegard von Bingen manuscript.

#drawing #medieval #posca