Monday, May 6, 2013

105 Versals in circles

These letters, Versals in Circles,* add structure to the Versals we saw a week ago [April 29] and echo the circular strokes of yesterday's King Arthur.  While the letter bodies may seem organic, they are shaped by their intended use as frames for scenes from the Bible.  Here you can see the circles that underlie their structure.   
*Circles in Versals might be just as descriptive. 

This early 16th century illumination shows how a letter G has been turned into a frame for a detailed scene depicting the birth of the Virgin Mary.  The white tracery on blue is extremely fine: the whole letter measures about 4 1/2 " [11 cm] square.  













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