Editing Miniature (illuminated manuscript) (section)

===Italy and Byzantium===
====3rd&ndash;6th centuries====
[[File:CottonGenesisFragment26vAbrahamAndAngels.JPG|thumb|220px|Miniature of [[Abraham]] meeting [[angel]]s, from the [[Cotton Genesis]], 5th&ndash;6th century.]]
The earliest extant miniatures are a series of uncolored pen drawings in the ''[[Chronograph of 354]]'', which was lost after the Renaissance, but is known from copies.  Fragments of some heavily illustrated luxury manuscripts from before about 450 have survived to the modern day. The [[Cotton Genesis]] was mostly destroyed by fire in London in 1731 and the [[Quedlinburg Itala fragment]] mostly destroyed in the Middle Ages, the [[vellum]] used in bookbindings. 

There are also colored miniatures cut from the [[Ambrosian Iliad]], an illustrated manuscript of the ''[[Iliad]]'' from the 5th century.  In these pictures there is a considerable variety in the quality of the drawing, but there are many notable instances of fine figure-drawing, quite classical in sentiment, showing that the earlier art still exercised its influence. Such indications, too, of landscape as are to be found are of the classical type, not conventional in the sense of medieval conventionalism, but still attempting to follow nature, even if in an imperfect fashion; just as in the Pompeian and other [[fresco]]es of the Roman age.<ref name=EB1911/>

Of even greater value from an artistic point of view are the miniatures of the [[Vatican City|Vatican]] manuscript of [[Virgil]], known as the [[Vergilius Vaticanus]], of the early 5th century. They are in a more perfect condition and on a larger scale than the Ambrosian fragments, and they therefore offer better opportunity for examining method and technique. The drawing is quite classical in style, and the idea is conveyed that the miniatures are direct copies from an older series. The colors are opaque: indeed, in all the miniatures of early manuscripts the employment of body color was universal. The method followed in placing the different scenes on the page is highly instructive of the practice followed, as we may presume, by the artists of the early centuries. It seems that the background of the scene was first painted in full, covering the whole surface of the page; then, over this background were painted the larger figures and objects; and over these again the smaller details in front of them were superimposed. (The [[painter's algorithm]].) Again, for the purpose of securing something like [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]], an arrangement of horizontal zones was adopted, the upper ones containing figures on a smaller scale than those below.<ref name=EB1911/>
[[File:ViennaDioscoridesFolio3v7Physicians.jpg|thumb|220px|Miniature of seven physicians from the [[Vienna Dioscurides]], early 6th century.]]

It was reserved for the [[Byzantine art|Byzantine]] school to break away more decidedly from the natural presentment of things and to develop artistic conventions. Yet in the best early examples of this school the classical sentiment still lingers, as the relics of the miniatures of the [[Cotton Genesis]], and the best of the miniatures of the [[Vienna Dioscurides]] testify; and in the miniatures of the later Byzantine manuscripts, which were copied from earlier examples, the reproduction of the models is faithful. But on comparing the miniatures of the Byzantine school generally with their classical predecessors, one has a sense of having passed from the open air into the [[cloister]]. Under the restraint of ecclesiastical domination Byzantine art became more and more stereotyped and conventional. The tendency grows to paint the flesh-tints in swarthy hues, to elongate and emaciate the limbs, and to stiffen the gait. Browns, blue-greys and neutral tints are in favor. Here we first find the technical treatment of flesh-painting which afterwards became the special practice of Italian miniaturists, namely the laying on of the actual flesh-tints over a ground of olive, green or other dark hue. Landscape, such as it was, soon became quite conventional, setting the example for that remarkable absence of the true representation of nature which is such a striking attribute of the miniatures of the [[Middle Ages]].<ref name=EB1911/>

And yet, while the ascetic treatment of the miniatures obtained so strongly in Byzantine art, at the same time the Oriental sense of splendour shows itself in the brilliancy of much of the coloring and in the lavish employment of gold. In the miniatures of Byzantine manuscripts are first seen those backgrounds of bright gold which afterwards appear in such profusion in the productions of every western school of painting.<ref name=EB1911/>

The influence of [[Byzantine art]] on that of medieval [[Italy]] is obvious. The early [[mosaic]]s in the churches of Italy, such as those at [[Ravenna]] and [[Venice]], also afford examples of the dominating Byzantine influence. But the early Middle Ages provide but few landmarks to guide the student; and it is only when he emerges into the 12th century, with its frescoes and miniatures still bearing the impress of the Byzantine tradition, that he can be satisfied that the connection has always existed during the intervening centuries.<ref name=EB1911/>

====13th&ndash;15th centuries====
[[File:Milan Book of Hours (Annunciation to the Shepherds).jpg|thumb|200px|Miniature of the Annuciation to the Shepherds, from a [[Book of Hours (Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Cod. 470)]].]]

The Italian miniature passed through the same stages as the miniatures of England and France and the Low Countries. Intercommunication between the countries of Europe was too well established for the case to be otherwise. In Italian manuscripts of the normal type the influence of Byzantine art is very manifest during the 13th and 14th centuries. The old system of painting the flesh tints upon olive green or some similar pigment, which is left exposed on the lines of the features, thus obtaining a swarthy complexion, continued to be practiced in a more or less modified form into the 15th century. As a rule, the pigments used are more opaque than those employed in the northern schools; and the artist trusted more to color alone to obtain the desired effect than to the mixture of color and gold which gave such brilliant results in the diapered patterns of France. The vivid scarlet of the Italian miniaturists is peculiarly their own. The figure-drawing is less realistic than the contemporary art of English and French manuscripts, the human form being often thick-set. In general, the Italian miniature, before its great expansion in the 14th century, is far behind the miniatures of the north. But with the 15th century, under the influence of the [[Renaissance]], it advanced into the front rank and rivalled the best work of the Flemish school. The use of thicker pigments enabled the miniaturist to obtain the hard and polished surface so characteristic of his work, and to maintain sharpness of outline, without losing the depth and richness of color which compare with the same qualities in the Flemish school.<ref name=EB1911/>

The Italian style was followed in the manuscripts of [[Provence]] in the 14th and 15th centuries. It had its effect, too, on the school of northern France, by which it was also influenced in turn. In the manuscripts of southern Germany it is also in evidence. But the principles which have been reviewed as guiding the development of the miniature in the more important schools apply equally to all. Like the miniature of the Flemish school, the Italian miniature was still worked to some extent with success, under special patronage, even in the 16th century; but with the rapid displacement of the manuscript by the [[printing|printed book]] the miniaturist's occupation was brought to a close.<ref name=EB1911/>