Art & Science of Illuminated Manuscripts

A Handbook

Edited by Stella Panayotova

Book cover: Art & Science of Illuminated Manuscripts

Extent: 524 pages

Publisher: Harvey Miller

Subjects: Art & Art History

Series: Manuscripts in the Making

Series volume number: 3

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(February 2021)

ISBN: 9781912554591

Price: $125.00

Out of stock

This publication was included in the “CHOICE 2022 Outstanding Academic Title List”. Designed to provide a guide for art historians, conservators and manuscript scholars to understand and support the increasingly popular cross-disciplinary research efforts focused on non-invasive scientific analyses of illuminated manuscripts.


The results achieved by the research of the pioneering MINIARE research project based at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge led to the ground-breaking and acclaimed 2016 exhibition “COLOUR: The Art and Science of Illuminated Manuscripts.” This was followed by an international Conference, in which art historians, paper and book conservators, and cultural heritage scientists were brought together to share new recent research not only on manuscripts but also on painting in other media. The Conference proceedings were published in the first two volumes of the HMMIMA series (2017-2018). The present publication includes 6 Essays by way of introducing and explaining the major topics being investigated, including the range of inks, pigments and paint binders used by illuminators; parchment-making; pigment recipes; and model books. The many analytical instruments and techniques that are used to investigate manuscripts are also discussed. Then follow 58 Case Studies of manuscripts from as early as the year 700 up to c.1600. All these are fully illustrated in colour and in great detail, and should act as examples to inform scholars in libraries, museums and other cultural institutions of the benefits of adding scientific tools to the range of methods used to investigate manuscripts. This publication was included in the “CHOICE 2022 Outstanding Academic Titles List”.

  • Edited by Stella Panayotova