Page "Miniature (illuminated manuscript)" Paragraph 5

Of even greater value from an artistic point of view are the miniatures of the Vatican manuscript of Virgil, known as the Vergilius Vaticanus, of the early 5th century.

They are in a more perfect condition and on a larger scale than the Ambrosian fragments, and they therefore offer better opportunity for examining method and technique.

The drawing is quite classical in style, and the idea is conveyed that the miniatures are direct copies from an older series.

The colors are opaque: indeed, in all the miniatures of early manuscripts the employment of body color was universal.

The method followed in placing the different scenes on the page is highly instructive of the practice followed, as we may presume, by the artists of the early centuries.

It seems that the background of the scene was first painted in full, covering the whole surface of the page ; then, over this background were painted the larger figures and objects ; and over these again the smaller details in front of them were superimposed.

( The painter's algorithm.

) Again, for the purpose of securing something like perspective, an arrangement of horizontal zones was adopted, the upper ones containing figures on a smaller scale than those below.