Illuminists were not illuminators.
In the twelfth century when, as far as we know, the word illuminator was
first applied to one who practised the art of book decoration, it meant
one who "lighted up" the page of the book with bright colours and
burnished gold.
These processes suggest the definition of the art. _Perfect illumination
must contain both colours and metals_. To this extent it is in perfect
unison with the other medi?val art of heraldry; it might almost be
called a twin-sister.
As an art it is much older than its name. We find something very like it
even among the ancient Egyptians, for in the Louvre at Paris is a
papyrus containing paintings of funeral ceremonies, executed in bright
colours and touched in its high lights with pencilled gold. But after
this for many centuries there remains no record of the existence of any
such art until just before the Christian era. Then, indeed, we have
mention of a lady artist who painted a number of miniature portraits for
the great biographical work of the learned Varro. We must carefully
observe, however, that there is a distinction between illumination and
mere miniature painting. Sometimes it is true that miniatures--as _e.g._
those of the early Byzantine artists, and afterwards those of Western
Europe--were finished with touches of gold to represent the lights.
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