The scriptorium experience really helped bring to light amount of intensity and patience it takes to create an illuminated manuscript. Over the course of creating my “masterpiece”, it became clear that I was much better at portraying some of art better than others. For example, I was very slow at coming up with an idea for a design, as there seemed to be so many potential ideas, it was difficult to hone in on one. My letters were my strong-suit, which would make sense because I have practiced drawing my letters more than I have any other images. By the end of the class period, I was very pleased with parts of my painting, but very disappointed with others (my painting was rather poor). My personal experience showed me that I am more skilled in some areas art compared to others. It allowed me to be truly amazed at these illuminated manuscripts as some were created by one individual, and this individual must have been talented in all aspects of the art form. However, it seems that many of these illuminated manuscripts were collaborated on within their given practice, and this makes sense to me considering my experience painting showed me that I am better at some things than others, and collaboration allows for greater specialization and therefore a chance at producing a higher grade of artwork.
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I like that you brought up the collaborative nature of creating illuminated manuscripts and art in general. Often, my mind assumes that a work of art is done by one person, which is certainly not the case. I’m especially thinking of contemporary artists like Jeff Koons, who has a whole team behind him to help create his large-scale sculptures (although I guess this example is a little different since he’s getting most of the credit). Anyway, I think what is just as valuable as the illuminated manuscript itself is the teamwork, communication, and process behind the making. Learning about these aspects sheds light on the historical, social, and cultural nuances of what it was like to create a manuscript at the time, and what the finished product meant to artists and viewers. I wonder what an illuminated letter that the whole class works on would look like, and how it might be interpreted in the future.