Illuminated Manuscripts — The Bible as Art
Before printing, every Bible was painted. These films take you inside the Lindisfarne Gospels, the Book of Kells and the medieval scriptoria where the Bible became one of the great art forms of Western civilisation.
5 videos
Introducing the Lindisfarne Gospels
Smarthistory · 5 min
A concise art-historical introduction to one of the great achievements of early medieval Britain. The interlace work alone repays watching twice.
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The Lindisfarne Gospels: Medieval Multiculturalism
British Library · 4 min
A British Library curator unpacks the surprising cultural fusion behind the Lindisfarne Gospels — Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Mediterranean and Coptic influences all woven into a single book.
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The Book of Kells
Drive Thru History · 3 min
A whistle-stop tour of Ireland's most famous medieval manuscript, and the monastic culture that produced it.
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Making Manuscripts
Getty Museum · 24 min
The Getty Museum's beautifully shot deep-dive into how medieval manuscripts were actually made — from preparing vellum to mixing pigments to applying gold leaf. Slow, patient, mesmerising.
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Gold Metal Leaf on Illuminated Calligraphy
joannemayarts · 5 min
A modern calligrapher shows the fiddly, ancient process of laying real gold leaf onto a manuscript page. The breath, the burnish, the way the gold catches the light.
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