After watching The Secrets of Kells, I began to search for other animations that referenced illuminated manuscripts. What I found was interesting. I found the reference to illuminated letters in the well known children’s showSpongeBob SquarePants. The illuminated letter was used to invoke humor. In class we were told that these embellished lettered marked the beginning of chapters since illuminated manuscripts lacked punctuation. In this children’s show the Illuminated letter represented both the beginning of a written essay as well a source of procrastination.
The other reference I found was in the movie Shrek. The beginning of the movie starts with a book that appears to have illuminated manuscript characteristics. It tells a story that also accompanied by illustration. While not as embellished as The Book of Hours, the introduction of the movie mimics storytelling. I am sure that there exists other sorts of animations that have referenced illuminated manuscripts or have been inspired by the art work, that I might have missed. What do you think?
