In the ancient setting of the Great Hall at Wenlock Abbey, learn how to create an illuminated manuscript. Also, discover something of the history of this ancient house, once famous for its illuminated manuscripts, as well as the recent restoration programme carried out under the ownership of artist Louis de Wet.
Barbara Bodziony writes:
“This time we invite both beginners and advanced participants to the course. Beginners will learn, step-by-step, the craft of a medieval miniaturist. We will learn how to make a binder according to medieval recipes, prepare parchment, choose colours, apply paint and draw precise lines with a brush to create a miniature. More advanced participants, including those who took part in previous editions of the workshop, will be able to make a more complex version of the miniature. We will be working on real parchment.
The final work will be a miniature of a zodiac sign taken from late medieval Books of Hours.
Above are sample illustrations of zodiac signs from Books of Hours. During the workshop, you will have a wider selection of designs to choose from.
Medieval Books of Hours intended for private devotions by lay people, are among the most richly illuminated manuscripts of the era. In addition to biblical scenes, depictions of saints and floral motifs, they very often feature images of the signs of the zodiac.
Most often images of the signs of the zodiac appeared in illustrated calendars. Each month was represented by a scene of work characteristic of the season, and the corresponding sign of the zodiac was placed next to or above it. The presence of the signs of the zodiac in the Books of Hours reminded the user of the cyclical nature of life and the constant movement of creation. They were a visual commentary on the idea of ‘tempus’ – time that passes, but at the same time, fits into the eternal order established by God.
Wenlock Abbey is a daughter house of Cluny, and you will be studying in the Great Hall of this Cluniac Priory, in the footsteps of the medieval monks.”
ABOUT THE COURSE LEADER:
Barbara Bodziony is an honours graduate from the European Institute of Illumination and Manuscripts in Angers, France, and runs the School of Calligraphy and Illumination in Krakow, Poland. She works extensively on projects for museums and delivers calligraphy and illuminated manuscript workshops throughout Europe, in particular, at the Benedictine Priory of Tyniec, near Krakow. This will be her third year of courses at Wenlock Abbey – she returns by popular demand! With her knowledge of monastic scriptoria, as well as her skill in the art itself, Wenlock Abbey is proud to have her as a most fitting tutor for its illuminated manuscript course in the Prior’s Hall.
THE COURSE ITSELF:
There will be no more than 10 participants on this course, in order to ensure that everyone gets individual attention.
At 1:00pm on Friday, meet outside the front gates of Wenlock Abbey in the Bullring (there is no parking inside the grounds of Wenlock Abbey, but plenty of carparks within walking distance in the town). Here, you will be welcomed and led up to the front of the house to meet your hostess, Gabrielle de Wet, who will give you a brief description of the outside of the house before taking you inside and introducing you to your course leader, Barbara Bodziony. Barbara will outline the programme for the weekend, before she and Gabrielle take you on a brief tour of the house, ending in the Great Hall, where your course will take place. The day will end at 5:30pm.
On Saturday, the course will resume at 9:30am in the Great Hall of Wenlock Abbey and run until 5:30pm with breaks for tea and coffee, and a light soup-and-sandwich lunch in the Lesser Hall, and you are welcome to walk around the grounds if weather permits.
On Sunday, the course will resume in the Great Hall at 9:30am and end at 1:00pm, and you will go home with a piece of work that you have created.
Please note that lunch is not provided on Friday or Sunday, but, you may wish to explore the town of Much Wenlock, which offers many places of culinary delights, within a very short walking distance.
