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MINISTERO DELL’ISTRUZIONE,
DELL’UNIVERSITÀ E DELLA RICERCA
Among Italian language schools for foreigners, the Galilei Institute is unique in its exclusive specializing in one-to-one, personalized, full immersion courses specifically designed for professionals and students. Established in 1985, the Galilei Institute attained the highest prestige among language schools in Italy by providing its services to the leading companies of the world. Please take a moment to review our list of clients.
Location of the school
illuminated letters workshop
ILLUMINATED LETTERS WORKSHOP
about our illuminated letters workshop
Curious to discover what illuminated letters are?
Florence is world-famous as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance. Its churches and private palaces are adorned with magnificent panel paintings and frescoes, while its museums are filled with extraordinary, lifelike statues in bronze and marble.
Few people, however, are aware of the incredible beauty hidden on the shelves of the city’s oldest libraries, within 14th- and 15th-century manuscripts. The word manuscript derives from the Latin words manus (hand) and scriptus (written), literally meaning “written by hand.”
Our illuminated letters workshop will help you discover their secrets!
WHAT ARE ILLUMINATED LETTERS?
Illuminated letters are large, decorated letters found at the beginning of a text, chapter, or paragraph in medieval manuscripts.
The term illuminated derives from the Latin “minium”, a red pigment used by scribes to decorate manuscripts.
These letters were not only decorative but also served to:
- indicate the beginning of a new section
- make the text easier to read
- embellish books, which were often intended for monasteries or members of the nobility
Illuminated letters were created by scribes, that is, copyist monks who worked in monasteries. Often, several people collaborated on a manuscript: the scribe and the illuminator, the artist responsible for the decoration.
Illuminated letters could be highly elaborate. Typical elements included botanical decorations such as leaves, flowers, and vines, as well as animals or religious and historical scenes.
In many manuscripts, the initial letter became almost a small work of art in its own right.
Some famous manuscripts featuring magnificent illuminated letters include the Book of Kells (9th century), medieval illuminated manuscripts, and Books of Hours, which were used for prayer.
These manuscripts are now preserved in libraries and museums.
For your four-hour illuminated letters workshop, you can choose between two different styles.
ILLUMINATED LETTERS WORKSHOP IN THE BIANCHI GIRALI STYLE
The Bianchi Girali style was extremely popular in Florence during the early 15th century and was often used to decorate books of poetry or works by classical authors rather than religious texts.
The decoration imitates intertwined white vine tendrils against a coloured background, usually blue. The stems themselves were often left unpainted and therefore retained the natural colour of the goatskin parchment on which they were painted.
The design was inspired by Romanesque illuminated manuscripts (11th–12th centuries), in which floral forms were predominant.
ILLUMINATED LETTERS WORKSHOP IN THE FOLIAGE STYLE
This foliage-based illumination style was particularly popular in Germany during the 15th century. Around 1450, an artists’ model book known as the “Göttingen Model Book” was created by one or more anonymous artists.
It describes how to draw leaves, initials, and patterned backgrounds using different colour combinations.
Ornate, twisted, and curling leaves were also incorporated into Italian illuminated manuscripts by Renaissance artists such as Fra Angelico, Zanobi Strozzi, and Lorenzo Monaco, although they were often used as decorations surrounding the letters rather than incorporated within their forms.
For the illuminated letters workshop, you will be provided with all the materials needed to complete and keep a letter of your choice.
You will be guided through the process of transferring the letter onto parchment, applying flat gilding, and then adding authentic pigments held in small shells, as was customary at the time.
No previous experience is required to participate in the illuminated letters workshop.
ILLUMINATED LETTERS WORKSHOP SCHEDULE
Workshops can be organized on any day of the week, excluding Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Individual, two-person, and self-organized group workshops can also be held in the morning upon request.
PRICES IN EUROS per person
The price includes all necessary materials.
| 4 hours workshop | |
| Individual illuminated letters workshop | 200 |
| Two-to-one illuminated letters workshop | 160 |
| Workshop for a self-composed small group (3–4 participants) | 130 |
Two-person and small-group workshops are organized for friends or family members who enroll together.