Illuminated Manuscripts

            One of the first things I noticed about this particular spread in the manuscript was the red guidelines that ran across the page. Being unfamiliar with illustrated manuscripts up to this point, rather not having seen them up close and in person, I was unaware of how planned and designed these books were. A great deal of thought was given to the layout and uniformity. I noticed they followed rules and guidelines that I didn't associate with that time, most of them I pictured as being more recent. For instance the space that the type occupies on the left spread mirrors that of the illustration in the right spread. The vignettes stand out in the corners of the work setting the outer edges of the guidelines, rarely exceeding this defined area. The illustration/illumination as a whole has very delicate accents of a floral type that add quite beautifully to the page, but without causing distraction. The use of all of these elements suggests to me that the creator(s), the Bedford Master (and his workshop) in this case, had a strong understanding of visual space and design. .
             The illustration/illumination has black text set under it that almost directly mirrors the red text on the facing page. I think it is a nice way to visually separate the two pieces of text from each other, without making a change in style or some other visually displeasing alteration. The two pieces can co-exist in the same space on facing pages, yet be read as two separate pieces of text. .
             Vines or vine-like structures are used in the illustration/illumination on the right facing page to draw your eye from vignette to vignette. These also create a sensation of the heavenly figures in an earthlike setting, or "Heaven on Earth," if you will. Starting at the top left moving down, right, and up where the vines explode and engulf the final vignette depicting Joachim offering a lamb to a priest for sacrifice. Our eyes, trained to read left to right, top to bottom usually require some persuasion to follow a different pattern, and not many pieces I have see do this successfully.