Illuminated Manuscripts

In this art lesson, students learned about the Illuminated manuscripts that existed across many cultures (including Irish, Roman, Islamic, etc.) beginning around 400 AD.  We looked at examples of some illuminated manuscripts like the ones below.  Typically, illuminated manuscripts refered to books that had elaborate illustrations throughout.  They also usually incorporated silver or gold painted text in the form of enlarging the first letter at the beginning of a chapter.  This is similar to classic nursery rhyme books too.

For the art lesson, students painted the first letter of their first name a metallic color.  Then they glued it to the middle of the paper and added a frame around it.  They completed the artwork by drawing lines, floral motifs, shapes, and patterns around the letters.  Here are some examples from my students' completed artwork.