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Manuscript design in the Middle Ages




The classical aesthetics of the Roman Empire and ancient Greek art gave way to (4) the Byzantine Empire (21) art greatly (9) influenced by oriental trends (6). It was primarily (11) imperial and more spiritual in content. Figures were depicted as (1) representations of the soul rather than (12) the body, yet they were more "worldly" in form due to the excessive use of gold, silver, precious and semi-precious stones (19). After the crusaders' (22) sack of Constantinople (28) in 1204, many works of Byzantine art appeared in Western Europe to exert influence upon (2) its art (see pic. 1).

During the Middle Ages, manuscript books preserved and propagated sacred writings. These early books were written and illustrated on sheets of treated (20) animal skin called parchment, or vellum, and sewn together into a codex format with pages that turned like the pages of contemporary books. We have already mentioned that in Europe monastic writing rooms had a clear division of labour (8) that led to the design of books. A scholar versed in (7) Greek and Latin headed the writing room and was responsible for the editorial content (15), design, and production of books. Scribes trained in lettering styles spent their days penning page after page of text. They indicated the place on page layouts where illustrations were to be added after the text was written, using a light sketch or a descriptive note jotted (3) in the margin (16). Illuminators rendered pictures and decorations in support of the text. In designing these works, monks were mindful of (5) the educational value of pictures and the capacity of colour and ornament to create spiritual overtones (17).

Manuscript production in Europe during the Middle Ages generated a vast variety of (13) page designs, illustration and lettering styles, and production techniques. Isolation and poor travel conditions allowed identifiable regional design styles to emerge. Some of the more distinctive medieval art and design approaches (14), including the Hiberno-Saxon style (24) of Ireland and England and the International Gothic style (25) prevalent in Europe in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, were used in manuscript books that achieved major graphic-design innovations.

The Book of Kells (c. AD 800), an illuminated gospel book (23) believed to have been completed (29) in the early 9th century at the Irish monastery of Kells, is renowned as one of the most beautiful Hiberno-Saxon manuscripts. Its page depicting the appearance of Jesus Christ's name in Matthew 1:18 (26) is called the Chi-Rho page. The design presents the monogram XPI which was used to signify Christ in many manuscripts as an intricately (10) designed pattern (18) of shimmering colour and spiraling forms blossoming over a whole page. The Book of Kells's Chi-Rho page is a paradigm (27) of how graphical form can become a metaphorical expression of spiritual experience: it clearly conveys the sacred nature of the religious content.

Illustrations: 1. The miniature painting of King Henry I of England from illuminated Chronicle of Matthew, Paris, (1236-1259), now in British Library, 2. A page from the luxury illuminated manuscript Wenceslas Bible, a German translation of the 1390s, 3. The Chi-Rho page from the Book of Kells, c. AD 800. The monogram is composed of Chi and rho the first two letters of the word Christ in Greek. The Board of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, The Bridgeman Art Library.

VOCABULARY NOTES

VERBS & COMBINATIONS WITH VERBS

1. to depict smth as [dɪ'pɪkt] -

2. to exert influence upon smth [ɪg'z:t 'ɪnflʊəns ə'pɒn] -

syn. to have influence upon smth, to influence smth, to have impact upon smth

3. to jot a note (in the margin) ['dʒɒt ə 'nəʊt] ( )

4. to give way to smth ['gɪv 'weɪ] -, -

 

COMBINATIONS WITH ADJECTIVES

5. to be mindful of smth ['maɪndf(ə)l] -, -, -

6. oriental trend [ɔ:rɪ'entl 'trend] ( )

7. to be versed in (some art, occupation, language, etc.) (- , , , ..)

NOUNS & COMBINATIONS WITH THEIR ATTRIBUTES

8. division of labour [dɪ'vɪʒ(ə)n əv 'leɪbə]

v.s. UNIT II: job specialization process

 

ADVERBS

9. greatly (to influence smth) ['greɪtlɪ] (), ( -)

10. intricately ['ɪntrɪktlɪ] ,

11. primarily ['praɪmərɪlɪ] ,

syn. chiefly, essentially, predominantly, principally

SET PHRASES

12. rather than ['rɑ:ðə 'ðæn] ,

e.g. They made up their mind to die rather than surrender. , .

13. a vast variety of smth ['vɑ:st və'raɪətɪ] -

syn. an abundance of , a great number of , quite a number of , a lot of , lots of , plenty of

 

PROFESSIONAL TERMS

14. approach [ə'prəʊtʃ] ( )

15. editorial content ()

16. margin ['mɑ:dʒɪn] ( )

17. overtone ['əʊvətəʊn] ,

18. pattern ['pæt(ə)n] ;

19. (semi-)precious stone [ˌsemɪ'preʃəs 'stəʊn] ()

20. to treat (some material) [tri:t] (- )

treated

 

CULTUROLOGICAL & HISTORICAL TERMS

21. Byzantine Empire [bɪ'zæntaɪn 'empaɪə]

22. rusader [kru:'seɪdə]

23. gospel book ['gɒsp(ə)l] ,

24. Hiberno-Saxon style [haɪ'b:nəʊ 'sæks(ə)n 'staɪl] -

syn. Insular style

25. International Gothic style ['gɒθɪk] ( , , 1380 1430 . 1890- () ()).

26. Matthew 1:18 ['mæθju:] , 1, 18

27. paradigm ['pærədaɪm] , , ; (. )

syn. case, example, instance

28. crusaders' sack of Constantinople

[kru:'seɪdəz 'sæk əv ˌkɒnstæntɪ'nəʊp(ə)l] ()

CONSTRUCTION

29.N.B.: Take care to do an adequate translation into Russian of the syntactic complex referred to as the COMPLEX SUBJECT (with an infinitive as the subjective predicative) or the NOMINATIVE WITH THE INFINITIVE.

The syntactic complex consists of a noun in the common case or a pronoun in the nominative case as the logical subject within the complex and one of the infinitive forms as the logical predicate within the complex:

1. The Indefinite Infinitive: Smb / smth is saidto do smth.

e.g. Johnis believedto respect his friends. , . ()

i.e. Peoplebelieve that Johnrespects his friends.

2. The Indefinite Passive Infinitive: Smb / smth is saidto be done.

e.g. Johnis believedto be respected by his friends. , . ()

i.e. Peoplebelieve that Johnis respected by his friends.

3. The Perfect Infinitive: Smb / smth is saidto have done smth.

e.g. Johnis believedto have respected his friends.. , . ( )

i.e. Peoplebelieve that Johnrespected his friends.

4. The Perfect Passive Infinitive: Smb / smth is saidto have been done.

e.g. Johnis believedto have been respected by his friends. , . ( )

i.e. Peoplebelieve that Johnwas respected by his friends.

5. The Non-Perfect Continuous Infinitive: Smb / smth is saidto be doing smth.

e.g. Johnis saidto be helping one of his friends. , . ()

i.e. Peoplesay that Johnis helping one of his friends.

6. The Perfect Continuous Infinitive: Smb / smth is saidto have been doing smth.

e.g. Johnis saidto have been helping one of his friends for a year. , .

i.e. Peoplesay that Johnhas been helping one of his friends for a year.

The predicate agreeing with the complex is predominantly expressed by a transitive verb in the passive voice (the most common of which are believe, consider, expect, know, report, say, suppose, think), with a few verbs used in the active voice (appear, happen, seem, prove, turn out) and the combination to be + adj (of which only the following are worth mentioning: bound, (un)likely, sure).

Depending on the chosen predicate verb the utterances containing the complex may imply different attitudes of the speaker to the information presented. Thus, for some reason, one may feel like dissociating oneself from the statement made, e.g. The Greek missionaries Cyril and Methodius are believed to have introduced the so-called Cyrillic alphabet , which means it is not a fact but rather an opinion of some learned people. The degree of certainty on the part of the speaker as to some past, present or future states or actions being true may vary from a strong doubt to a firm believe, cf.: He is unlikely to help you.He is likely to help you.He is sure to help you.

 

UNIT V





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