After a quick look at Adelisa’s Wiki, I saw that her persona is based upon a Norman/Lombard woman in the court of King Roger II of Sicily. Off I went to research manuscripts of 12th century Italy. And, down a rabbit hole I went. Most of what I found were mosaics or murals, such as are housed in the beautiful Palatine Chapel (Cappella Palatina). Although these were spectacular, I wanted to base this scroll on an actual manuscript.
Finally, I located the exact exemplar I wanted to use. This manuscript was created in Montecassino, Italy in approximately 1153. https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107S77
Although there were a few other inhabited letters in this Breviary, I selected the “S”. For a recent scroll, I had switched the initial letter after my wordsmith, Montgomery Josh, had written the words. As a result, he had to rewrite a portion of the text because I selected a Q. This “Q Incident” was still fresh enough in my mind that I wanted to select a more reasonable opening letter.
After I selected the exemplar, I shared my selection with Josh, who could then begin the text. I couldn’t start working on the illumination until I had done the calligraphy, since that had to be done before the gold leaf. The gold leaf can become damaged easily, so the pencil lines for the calligraphy need to be done prior to the gilding. Leaving enough time to complete a scroll when doing gold leaf is crucial as the adherent (Miniatum) needs to dry in between coats and before laying the gold leaf – which depending on the humidity and other factors, can take anywhere from between a few hours to a few days. Although historically fish glue would have most likely been used as the adhesive, I use the Miniatum as it is readily available, and does not have nearly the odor that fish glue does.
In the exemplar, the capital letters are painted instead of inked. I wanted to do this as well, so I left spaces within the calligraphy.
Next came the gilding of the smaller letters around the initial letter. Due to the nature of gold leaf adhering to everything, it is necessary to cover the calligraphy with glassine paper. Previously, I had the gold leaf stick to some of the calligraphy on the page, so I am very careful to make sure the calligraphy is properly covered. Since the first word was “Service”, it was easy to space the letters around the initial letter. After that came painting of the initial letter. I learned from previously working with gold gouache that it was beneficial to paint a layer of ochre first. Otherwise, the final result can look streaky unless you apply multiple layers. I prefer Finetec metalics, but they can still be difficult to look even without that base coat. I also used a darker grey base coat under the bottom half of the crescent in the badge. This way, when I painted the silver gouache over it, there was a variation between the two sections of the crescent.
I added the finishing touches, such as the critters inhabiting the initial letter, as well as the painting of the capital letters within the calligraphy. All of the outlining in the capital letter was done by a liner brush.
Here is a side by side of my scroll and the exemplar.
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