History of Visual Communication
Wednesday, March 04, 2009This is the stuff that makes history. Labour of love, painstakingly detailed and created to last. While we are on the subject of books, there is this treasure house I need to share with you. Dedicated to all lovers of books, history, art and beauty, here are some pieces of art I'd give an arm and leg to just set my eyes on.
Renaissance book bindings"The Art of the Book
Medieval Europe. One of the darkest periods known to mankind: Pestilence and plague, darkness and fear, witch-hunts and illiteracy roam the land. It is a world where most people seldom leave their place of birth for any distance longer than 10 miles, where few people even live beyond the age of 30...."
"In this inhospitable milieu, secluded in the scriptoria of cold monasteries, under the light of feeble oil lamps, mittened against the biting cold; some of the greatest book designers that ever lived, created some of the most beautiful books the world has ever seen."
"The colophons of the their creations are testimony to their short lives since most of the books that they worked upon were only completed in several of their brief lifetimes, one scribe replacing the other over decades. We call these beautiful books Illuminated Manuscripts.Read more here.
Those interested can get a mine of information on the details of the these gorgeous books in The History of Visual Communication.
Th pages inside are beautifully designed and laid out.
When my friend Riddhi sent me this link my jaw dropped and stayed like that for a long time.
Illuminated Manuscripts: " An illuminated manuscript is a manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration or illustration, such as decorated initials, borders and miniatures. In the strictest definition of the term, an illuminated manuscript only refers to manuscripts decorated with gold or silver. However, in both common usage and modern scholarship, the term is now used to refer to any decorated manuscript."
After designing something like this one can go die peacefully :)
Baroque flourishes:"In the arts, Baroque is both a period and the style that dominated it. The Baroque style used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, and music. The style started around 1600 in Rome, Italy and spread to most of Europe."
" Illumination was a complex and frequently costly process. As such, it was usually reserved for special books: an altar Bible, for example. Wealthy people often had richly illuminated "books of hours" made, which set down prayers appropriate for various times in the liturgical day." Read more here
Books of Hours from France and the Netherlands. 15th and 16th centuries
Books of Hours from France and the Netherlands. 15th and 16th centuriesThe 1st time I saw anything like this was at the Jaipur City Palace Museum. It has in glass cases beautifully illustrated tomes of the Ramayan & Mahabharata. They were splendid examples of graphic design & typography.
All images from The History of Visual Communication.
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