Book Miniature (Illumination)

A book miniature (illumination) is a hand-executed illustration or decorative composition in a manuscript book; a form of book art. The name derives from 'minium' — red lead, the red paint with which, in the Middle Ages, important parts of the text and drawings were highlighted. Miniatures are divided into narrative ones (illustration-'pictures,' including the frontispiece 'portraits' of commissioners or evangelists) and ornamental ones (headpieces, tailpieces, initials, frames). Miniatures were painted by illuminators with paints to which gold and silver were added. The book miniature is a valuable source for the history of art, daily life, costume, and iconography. Outstanding monuments of early Ukrainian miniature are the Ostromir Gospel (miniatures of the evangelists), the Izbornik of Sviatoslav of 1073 (with a group portrait of the princely family), and the richly illuminated Kyiv Psalter of 1397. With the advent of printing, the art of the miniature grew into the book engraving and illustration.