From: owner-scribes@castle.org (scribes digest) To: scribes-digest@castle.org Subject: scribes digest V4 #14 Reply-To: Sender: owner-scribes@castle.org Errors-To: owner-scribes@castle.org Precedence: bulk scribes digest Tuesday, October 17 2000 Volume 04 : Number 014 ======================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with unsubscribe scribes-digets in the body of the message. Leave the subject line blank. Do not include any additional text. [scribes]: Bruce Ferrini web site! Re: [scribes]: Re: Portraiture [scribes]: Another great MSS. web site! Re: [scribes]: Bruce Ferrini web site! Re: [scribes]: Bruce Ferrini web site! Re: [scribes]: Re: Portraiture [scribes]: Interesting web site! [scribes]: Source for do it yourself ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 10:33:05 -0500 (CDT) From: sburnell@raex.com Subject: [scribes]: Bruce Ferrini web site! Greetings, fellow scribes! Go to: http://www.ferrini.com and check out the two new catalogues Mr. Ferrini has for sale : "Books of Hours" and "Important Illuminated Manuscripts"! WOW! I think I must buy copies of these - as if I don't already own enough books about Illuminated Manuscripts................and I just last night bought the 2nd edition of Christopher de Hamel's "History of Illuminated Manuscripts", since it is different enough from his 1st edition to be worth owning. (I have an autographed 1st edition that I bought from Mr. de Hamel himself when he visited the Ferrini Gallery about 8 years ago!) Saradwen Midrealm =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 09:02:34 -0700 (PDT) From: abbondanza Subject: Re: [scribes]: Re: Portraiture First of all I would like express my thanks to Giles for this reflective and thoughtful missive. "...look at medieval art, there is a trend toward naturalism which became more pronounced toward the end of the period, Artists began to more carefully observe and record the natural world, and experimented with ways to capture those observations more and more accurately". The trend towards naturalism also reflects the cultural shift from the predominance of sacred art to more secularized art, true- only the wealthy could afford such extravagance but also consider that no one person was considered so important that a personalized portrait was socially appropriate. Subjects are most always depicted in clusters with an agricultural/manor life allegorical and/or religious theme, both of which seemed somewhat informative or educational in some way. This demonstrates the importance of the cooperative effort needed to sustain their lifestyle. As portraits become more individual to the subject, the mentality of the people shifted from dependence upon the church to a more metaphysical free-thinking perspective. > The Italian artist Vasari credits Jan van Eyck with the > discovery of oil > painting (Lives of the Artists, 1568). In Giles: Can you send me the ISBN number off this book or the full bibliographical information **Does anyone have oil paint recipes, or know where I can obtain them?*** **Does anyone know of resources which outline the symbolism used in medieval painting?** You can actually see the geographical movement spread from the North to the South to the West. Interestingly enough as the Renaissance migrates from Italy to France, painting increases in importance and becomes the dominant element in Illumination; more than 65% of the page is "eaten up" by paintings the minatures increase to 50% of the page ~and~ a generous four-sided border + the frame for a scanty text box. (*especially glazing thin washes of colour over gold or silver > leaf (Limbourgs) and shading ultramarine with alizarin > crimson > (Gottingen). Try it, it's amazing!) In my formal art training I was taught to use analogous colors to create depth and shadow when painting and it is quite a different look than using browns or blacks to create shadows, they tend to "muddy" oil paint if you are not very careful and sparing with them. I almost never use black in my illumination unless it is ink and absolutely necessary, ex: the figure is wearing black shoes & hose. Also in my oil painting/portraiture work I have always used many layers of glazes to build up a painting, there is a wonderful product that mundane oil painters use to facilitate drying, W&N Liquin(we call it liquid gold), amazing product! > artist to a certain level of sought-after celebrity (da > Vinci, > > Caravaggio...Bronzino for the Medici, Holbein for the > Tudors, > Titian for the Holy Roman Emperor, etc. !!I am hearing an aria in my head just thinking of these most incredible examples. The standard of painting portraits also changes at this time, prior examples depict women in what I refer to "the Madonna pose", serene, void of expression, neatly folded hands which are always in full view, a marble like appearance, the background being the home, the garden or the church(for actual Madonna representation). Men are usually depicted with a somber expression (sacred carryover)in an absurd amount of clothing(signature of wealth) set in an opulent backdrop of visually interesting architectural elements (symbolic of builders/do-ers, etc). The hands also play an important role in the symbolism of the sitter. As the progressional shift occurs in portrait work we see more natural, more expressive and certainly individualized examples of portrait work occurring. My favorite example of this is Durer's self portrait circa 1500 the sitter's personality shines through and we get a glimpse of the beginning of a more individualized style of work. I apologize for the length of this missive but honestly, I could go on and on....like the song that never ends....I do wish there were forums for scadian artists to sit together and share insights. Antoinette of Stormsport Aethelmearc __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/ =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 11:07:00 -0500 (CDT) From: sburnell@raex.com Subject: [scribes]: Another great MSS. web site! Here is another great site for purchasing illuminated leaves from MSS. (and just also looking at lots of nice pictures of leaves!): http://cepuckett.com If any of you saw "Leaves of Our Times" at War, the booth that was selling actual leaves from MSS., that was Lady Katarina Peregrine from the Marche of Gwyntarian, my home group, who sells those leaves for Mr. Puckett. They used to be from the inventory of Mr. Ferrini, who no longer deals in individual leaves, but now deals exclusively with whole MS. books. Check out the site! In addition to MSS. leaves, he also deals in antique maps and other goodies! Have fun! Saradwen Midrealm =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 14:54:01 -0500 (CDT) From: sburnell@raex.com Subject: Re: [scribes]: Bruce Ferrini web site! > I don't get it. What is he exactly selling? > mahee The two catalogues, "Important Illuminated Manuscripts" and "Books of Hours". Click on "Catalogues" on the left hand side of the site. That will take you to information on how to buy them. "Important Illuminated Manuscripts" sells for $55 and "Books of Hours" sells for $45. Not bad prices considering how expensive most art books are these days! Saradwen > From: sburnell@raex.com > To: scribes@castle.org > Subject: [scribes]: Bruce Ferrini web site! > Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 10:33:05 -0500 (CDT) > > Greetings, fellow scribes! > > Go to: > > http://www.ferrini.com > > and check out the two new catalogues Mr. Ferrini has for sale : "Books > of Hours" and "Important Illuminated Manuscripts"! WOW! I think I must > buy copies of these - as if I don't already own enough books about > Illuminated Manuscripts................and I just last night bought > the 2nd edition of Christopher de Hamel's "History of Illuminated > Manuscripts", since it is different enough from his 1st edition to be > worth owning. (I have an autographed 1st edition that I bought from > Mr. de Hamel himself when he visited the Ferrini Gallery about 8 years > ago!) > > Saradwen > Midrealm =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 13:17:27 -0700 From: Carolyn_Richardson@cch.com Subject: Re: [scribes]: Bruce Ferrini web site! >>The two catalogues, "Important Illuminated Manuscripts" and "Books of Hours". Click on "Catalogues" on the left hand side of the site. That will take you to information on how to buy them. "Important Illuminated Manuscripts" sells for $55 and "Books of Hours" sells for $45. Not bad prices considering how expensive most art books are these days!<< I'd like to add that I've been buying Bruce Ferini's catalogs for many years and they are all excellent. He normally does all the plates in full color. I don't know if I have these particular catalogs yet - I bought one from him last year at the Beverly Hills Antique show, but don't recall the title. And I think that Bruce is still selling individual leaves, but only the real "bucks up" ones. He had about a dozen leaves with him at that show and they were all gorgeous (and expensive). Tetchubah of Greenlake, Caid =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 16:58:38 -0400 From: "Amy" Subject: Re: [scribes]: Re: Portraiture - ----- Original Message ----- From: abbondanza To: Sent: Tuesday, October 17, 2000 12:02 PM Subject: Re: [scribes]: Re: Portraiture > **Does anyone know of resources which outline the symbolism > used in medieval painting?** Antoinette, I just finished reading Image on the Edge:The Margins of Medieval Art, by Michael Camille (ISBN0-674-44362-4). It is an absolutely wonderful book that has a lot of information on the symbolism used in the marginalia. Olwyn ni Chinneidigh Eisental East =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 17:19:57 -0400 From: "Sally Burnell" Subject: [scribes]: Interesting web site! Fellow scribes, This URL was sent to me by a friend of mine. Very extensive site with tons of information and pictures. Worth spending some serious time with! http://www.nb.no/baser/schoyen/ Bookmark this one - you'll want to return to it time and again! Enjoy! Saradwen Midrealm =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 17:54:55 +0000 From: Randy Asplund Subject: [scribes]: Source for do it yourself If you don't know about this company, you should. http://www.kremer-pigmente.de/englisch/homee.htm Get a copy of their catalog if you have any interest in making your own paints. They even sell mastic. There are books for sale which among other things, tell you how to make oil paints. You want Azurite, Malachite, Smalt? Bice? and many other pigments, including spinich, brazilwood, cochineal, saffron, etc? That doesn't mean I endorse them as the best source or the least expensive. I mean, why buy walnut husks if you have a walnut tree? But they have the rock alum and the green vitriol. Also, don't forget http://www.sinopia.com/ BTW, I am checking out the quality of the parchment from the guy in New York who makes it at a leather factory. He sent samples and the goat and calf both work great on the hair side. All they need is a minor scuffing with light sandpaper (ok pounce if you must) to get the paint to cover smoothly and the ink to dry faster. However, at this point the skins should be considered only usable on that side for C&I. I have written to him about my findings. Maybe he will come up with the process he needs toprepare on both sides, but not yet. However, his price is really low. Considering that we are usually using one side, I think it is a moot issue and well worth the price. I am waiting to see whole skins before I have an opinion on consistancy,but it seems encouraging. I'll be sure to let you know. RanthulfR - -- Randy Asplund (734) 663-0954 Science Fiction and Fantasy Illustration 2101 S. Circle Dr., Ann Arbor, MI. 48103 See a Universe of art ranging from Medieval Manuscripts to Star Trek and Magic: The Gathering at: http://www.provide.net/~randyaf =================================================================== To unsubscribe from this list, send email to with a blank Subject: line and unsubscribe scribes in the body of the message. Do not include any additional text in the body. ------------------------------ End of scribes digest V4 #14 ****************************