Books in the Renaissance. (Current and Coming).

Before the invention of printing, books were produced entirely by hand by a series of painters, calligraphers, and binders. Many of these manuscripts were embellished with exquisite, brilliantly colored miniature paintings aptly called illuminations. These early books included histories, chronicles, romances, religious texts, and books of hours. During the Renaissance they were highly prized by members of the great courts of Europe, who were among the few who were both literate enough to read them and rich enough to commission them.

Manuscript illumination flourished under the patronage of the dukes of Burgundy, kings of England, Portuguese monarchs, and Hapsburg rulers. The years between about 1470 and 1560 comprise one of the most productive and artistically accomplished periods in Flemish manuscript illumination, which is the subject of an exhibition on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles this summer. The show, entitled Illuminating the Renaissance: The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe, is on view until September 7, after which it travels to London, where it maybe seen at the Royal Academy of Arts from November 25, 2003, to February 22, 2004. Due to their fragility, illuminated manuscripts are rarely exhibited for very long, and the more than 130 works in this exhibition include some of the most important books of this kind ever produced. Artists who painted large-scale works also illuminated manuscripts, and the exhibition includes panel paintings to demonstrate their versatility and considerable skill.

A hallmark of manuscript illumination during the Renaissance is the introduction of wide, decorated borders consisting of realistically painted flowers and plants, many of which incorporate a wide variety of insects rendered in minute detail. In fact, it is believed that there were patterns for these opulent borders, which, by 1480, appeared in nearly every illuminated book produced by Flemish artists.