“An illuminated manuscript shows an attention to detail, a genius for decoration and ‘selective realism in pictorial details.’” — Susan Jones
As a contemporary artist, I often reflect on what it is about an illuminated manuscript that captures my attention. The short answer is the work’s complete fusion of idea and image. Within a format that follows strict visual conventions, the illustrator is able to tell a story, to create a world that is public (in the sense that it is a known text or story), yet includes private, personal images and symbols.
Choirbook Master (Spain), Corpus Christi, page from an Illuminated Antiphonary, 1484. Gouache and gold on parchment. The John R. Van Derlip Fund, 44.1.
Along with this freedom of expression for the illustrator, an illuminated manuscript demands participation from the viewer. As a viewer/reader, you note how the illustrations relate to the text, but you can’t help but wonder about the images themselves: Who or what is the long-necked, animal-bodied, human-headed figure snaking up the left side of the image? Who are the 13 tiny heads under the square panel? What are we missing when the text is no longer familiar?
I wonder, too, about practical things: How did they apply the gold leaf? How tiny were the brushes? How long did it take to create? (These are all questions I am frequently asked about my own work.) What I most love about these pages is the fact that it is impossible to separate the patterning and decorative elements from the meaning. It is difficult to invent and employ so many patterns—much harder than you might guess—and in my own work I am endlessly inspired by the visual imagination, use of color, and precious materials employed by medieval illustrators in service to the text.
The medieval era was the period of transition from anonymous craftspeople to named artists. Around 1200, centers of education shifted from monasteries and cathedral schools to universities. Bookmaking was no longer only or primarily the province of monks, but was practiced in specialized workshops that included women creators. It was the dawning of the recognition of the individual artist.
For the last 16 years, I have been working on the Anastylosis Project, a series of drawings inspired by 12th-century buildings. The drawings range from small studies done on site to large-scale drawings of buildings that take up to two years to complete. This project has entailed much study of the medieval era and extensive travel to remote places for research. Each large drawing is an extended meditation on a specific medieval site.
Gallery View, MAEP 2007, Anastylosis, Mary Griep,
Drawings in Light, Jantje Visscher
To work on the same drawing for two years is a contemplative act, attempting to create a work that might echo what Susan Jones says about the illuminated manuscript as a format to “sustain continued viewing and private mediation.” My large drawings are a challenge to myself to see if I can sustain attention on a single site for a year or more. They are also, I hope, an invitation to viewers to slow down and experience the work in a contemplative way. The Anastylosis Project was inspired by my realization that it is impossible to know something well enough to draw it in a short time. Students often come to a drawing class with the goal of wanting to draw faster, yet generally the process of learning to draw is about slowing down—learning to see and training the eye, not the hand. Medieval illustrators knew how to slow down, to take the given conventions and use them to create timeless images that fused well-known texts, visual conventions, and personal expression.
Mary Griep is Professor of Art and Associate Dean for the Fine Arts at St. Olaf College. Five drawings from the Anastylosis Project were exhibited at the Minneapolis Institute of Art in 2007. Mary was profiled in the inaugural season of Minnesota Originals, produced by Twin Cities Public Television. Her work may be seen at marygriep.com.
Mary Griep will be featured in the MIA’s “Marks of Genius” Drawing Studio on Thursday evening, August 21, at 6:30 p.m. as part of the “The Artist Is In” series, free with admission to the exhibition. Mary’s discussion will focus on drawing as a record of perception.