I find the timing of the exhibition apt: it serves as a reminder to us e-reading, free paper-skimming Londoners of how much time and care once went into producing books. At the same time, it highlights how far we've come in democratising the written word; what was once reserved for royalty is now available readily to the masses, free or charge or at minimal cost, albeit in far less glorious forms. E-ink for the people is perhaps preferable to gold leafed texts for the very elite.
Anyway, I digress. The exhibition showcases over 150 elaborately-decorated manuscripts, primarily of a Biblical and/ or historical nature(there's a lot of overlap between the two, with religion being the main provider of historical discourse way back when). Illuminators would typically spend years - even a lifetime - on a single manuscript, adding illustrations and page borders and embellishing initial letters at the start of each chapter to create a unique masterpiece for a royal recipient. Personalising the manuscript for the owner was hugely important: illuminators commonly incorporated the former's royal coat of arms into patterns and borders.
From a contemporary point of view, the illuminations aren't just decoration. They give colour and context to our understanding of the historical periods in which they were produced (Medieval and Renaissance) - a point that the BL has emphasised: 'Together they are our most vivid source for understanding royal identity, moral and religious beliefs, learning, faith artistic trends and the international politics of the period.'
