JS6 Medieval–Era Inspired Illuminations

6th graders studied a number of aspects of Medieval-era illuminated manuscripts, including composite beasts (i.e. – griffins, basilisks, manticores, etc…), illuminated letters, the representation of natural elements, fine brushwork and more. In this gallery you will find work from these units of study.

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Composite beasts – Medieval era illuminated manuscripts sometimes contained paintings of fictitious creatures among the lavish decorations. For these drawings students first brainstormed several potential combinations of real, existing animals, chose at least one of their ideas, and then used visual references to apply observational drawing techniques as they created a more finished drawing.

Pascal Duravcevic

Major Novogratz

Tiffany Palapo

Beni Okamoto

Toby Petrzela

Juliet Sandler

Illuminated letters – Many manuscripts contain the famous illuminated letter, or enlarged and highly decorative first letter of the text on the page. These letters occasionally housed scenes or designs that would illustrate something about the text that followed. Students who chose this project used one of the initials of their name, and included their composite beast creation in the design. The design was supported by observational drawing from real life flowers that they did as warmup exercises. You may also find some of these drawings displayed here if the student chose to show that work. These were then completed with watercolor paint.

Oren Casriel

Dillon DalalSurana

Iris Edelstein

Aedan Grover-Scher

Grace Magliocco

Erick Santiago

Tiffany Palapo

Illuminated manuscript – Students were also given the choice to illuminate a passage of text. The layout, inclusion of their composite beast, decorative elements and paint technique were all inspired by their assessment of authentic illumination examples from the Medieval-era. Students were allowed to choose any text they wanted for the purpose of their piece.

Sookie Lee