Vocabulary Illuminated Book 1 The Sun

[Kim Veller]

Visitorswill enter through an illuminated maze, then be invited to contribute words from kiosks, after which an AI-powered algorithm will collect and parse them into poetry, and perhaps shoot them into outer space.

Modern scholarship has increasingly focussed attention on the interrelationship of the arts, on the ways in which, for example, the visual arts may complement or inform literary discourse. In this context, a study of the ancient craft of book illumination offers fresh perspectives on the ways in which word, image and decoration may interact imaginatively and intellectually. Books serve no simple or clearly defined static function, unchanging from age to age; on the contrary, their uses are almost as varied as their owners, and the force of the written word, whether it is read silently, solemnly proclaimed, or received as meditative nourishment, lies in its capacity to penetrate with fresh relevance a changing milieu. Similarly, familiar images and systems of decoration, ordering and design, can be charged with a new vitality when they become part of a different literary or social context.

Seven illuminated manuscripts from the collection of the National Gallery of Victoria demonstrate how a series of texts all of which are based on scriptural and liturgical sources reflect in their contents, ordering and decoration, the varied interests of their original owners and the specific purpose for which they were made.

Two distinctive illustrative features, however, occur in the pages prefacing the gospels. On the decorative columns of the architectural frames perch a series of figures (fig. 1). Some are simple Atlantes supporting the arches above them, but most bear attributes or are engaged in symbolic activities. They represent the labours of the months and a group of Christian-monastic virtues. Hugo Buchthal has shown that this decorative programme is reflected in two later Byzantine Gospel Books, one now in San Marco, Venice (Marciana gr. Z.540), and another in Tiflis. All three books were probably the product of the one scriptorium, and these special features were not absorbed into the mainstream of Byzantine gospel book illumination.

As accomplished scribe and illuminator, he also exercised a certain freedom in the decoration of the Canon Tables with the labours of the months and virtues. Both these sets of images follow established Byzantine patterns to be found in other types of manuscripts and artistic media. Transposed to the Canon Tables they acquire a sharpened allusive edge. The calendar figures attest to the pervasive presence of the gospels through the passage of time, and their appropriateness for all seasons. The virtues are personal in emphasis: prudence, courage, thoughtfulness, alms-giving, well-doing, kindness of heart, exhortation, repentance, love, wisdom, contemplation and action. Juxtaposed with the calendar figures, they call for the living-out of the gospel ideal within the monastic environment.

The Aspremont manuscript, in addition to a psalter, liturgical calendar, canticles and litany (Oxford section), contains five full Offices for the feasts of Christmas, the Purification, Annunciation, Assumption and Nativity of the Virgin. Unlike the Lige book it does not have a version of the Little Office, nor does it include any other supplements or local devotions. Indeed, although produced some thirty years later than the Lige book it has closer links with the breviary than with a Book of Hours.

The calendar pages of the Lige and Aspremont manuscripts are illustrated by small miniatures of the labours of the months and the signs of the zodiac, in conformity with a widespread convention throughout France and the Netherlands, which was to continue into Books of Hours. In the Lige book, the labour of sowing the seed, which in manuscripts produced further south takes place in October, is depicted in September in keeping with a Germanic model.

While an image of the Virgin and Child introduces matins for the Little Office of the Virgin in the Lige manuscript, the historiated initials for the remaining hours of this Office are devoted to the Passion. This tradition of associating the canonical hours for prayer with the sufferings of Christ was to remain influential in the illumination of Books of Hours, with the Little Office being usually illustrated by either a Passion cycle or a series of scenes in honour of the Virgin.

Apart from the three full-page illustrations, historiated initials of modest dimensions with simple border extensions comprise the decorative vocabulary of the Lige manuscript. By contrast, in the Aspremont Psalter-Hours, splendidly illuminated pages mark the beginning of all the major sections (figs 4, 5). Here the historiated initials are enlarged to hold compositions which dominate the page, while side panels of gold letters on coloured grounds, versal initials in gold, blue and red, elaborately cusped bar borders with small miniature insets, and a wealth of marginal drolleries, provide a setting, distinguished by verve and variety rather than systematic precision; and, although the illustration of the psalter follows an established pattern, there is an element of improvisation in the illumination of the Offices section. This is especially evident in the treatment of the lesser hours within each Office, where smaller historiated initials repeat a few basic narrative themes or else resort to images of Christ, the Virgin, and saints, often with portraits of the donors at prayer before them.

What do we know about the first owners of these psalter-hours and how were these books used? Despite the mix of texts in the Lige book and its distinctive combination of visual themes and patterns it is not an isolated production. Judith Oliver has identified some forty books produced in the diocese of Lige between c.1250 and the opening decades of the fourteenth century, all of which share a common textual and visual tradition. Several of these manuscripts were made for the Beguines, dedicated women who shared a communal life and many of whom lived in Lige at this time. Not all the manuscripts, however, can be directly associated with the Beguines, and these books give us an insight into the devotional practices of an extensive group of people. Local workshops must have been practised in turning out these prayer-books. The script is neat and careful, the illumination of good quality, and expensive gold leaf is used with a limited colour range. Presumably the manuscripts were reasonably expensive, but not beyond the range of the Beguine communities and members of the literate upper-middle class, both clerical and lay.

The text and programme of illustration of the Wharncliffe Hours exemplifies the French Book of Hours in its most popular phase. Its illumination, however, is of the highest quality, and comparison with the Dijon fragment demonstrates how Matre Franois exercised independence and originality in rendering certain themes and compositions.

Dr Ursula Hoff introduced me to the world of the illuminated manuscript some thirty years ago. This article is written in appreciation of the riches that introduction opened to me for later research and enjoyment.

The more one uses these terms and reads about lighting, the more familiar they will become with the vocabulary. Have questions or concerns? Global Lighting Technologies is your go-to expert for all your illumination needs!

A collaborative team of cognitive scientists and doctors from MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has now developed a quantitative way to identify these different deficits. In the process, they illuminated a fundamental trade-off the brain makes when speaking between vocabulary and grammar. Their results show that PPA patients with grammar deficits use richer, more complex vocabulary to compensate for their syntax struggles and vice versa.

To quantify the frequency of different words, the researchers analyzed a database called Switchboard, which consists of random telephone conversations from over 500 American English speakers. They edited out the typical stutters, errors, and false starts of normal speech, and then analyzed how often different words appear.

With their metrics in place, the team asked study participants to describe a scene doctors sometimes use to diagnose aphasia: a drawing of a busy family picnic. The researchers then calculated an average word frequency and syntax frequency of each sentence for each participant.

When teaching young children to read, we must never lose sight of the multidimensional nature of reading instruction. Effective teachers address all aspects of reading: explicit phonics instruction, fluency, background knowledge, vocabulary, comprehension skills, and, yes, motivation and engagement. Helping children to feel good about themselves as readers and, hopefully, come to love reading, is as important as teaching the skills of reading.

It is well established that systematic, explicit phonics instruction plays a critical role in early reading instruction; yet, it is also true that children need to acquire a certain number of sight words in order to tackle beginning reading successfully. In particular, young readers need to learn certain high frequency words that do not follow phonics rules (e.g., was, said). For many beginning struggling readers, the best approach is to find reading materials that contain a high percentage of phonetically regular words along with some amount of high frequency sight words. The advantage of using reading material with these features is that it gives children the opportunity to apply the phonics skills they are learning in the context of actual reading, while also providing practice reading sight words in context. The Sound Out Chapter Books, published by High Noon, are one example of a book series with both of these features.

Many educators have been led to believe that there are a high percentage of phonetically irregular words in the English language. Although it is true that words in English have more phonetic irregularities than some other languages, such as Spanish, there is still a surprising amount of phonetic regularity in the English language. About 85% of English words are decodable using phonics (Moats & Tolman, 2009). For this reason, phonics should be the primary word attack method taught and emphasized in early reading. However, a certain amount of sight word instruction should be included, particularly in early reading, because many of these words (e.g.,to, the, of, was, there) are irregular, and are best taught as sight words. Because these words are high frequency, teaching these words alongside a strong phonics program, can best facilitate access to beginning reading material for young children.

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