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emjay · 06-11-2015, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DinosaursOnASpaceship

Emmylou nodded as she listened to the professor. She jotted down some notes because she didn't know if she would have to remember something for a later time. She was sort of right on that part but then again it was a discussion. Moving on. Next question. Illuminated Manuscripts? Weren't those the the fancy looking books? With the text that wasn't very easy to read? Emmylou raised her hand. "Are those the books and papers that have all of those fancy designs on them?" Maybe that wasn't really an answer but she really didn't know what else to say.

"They actually do have fancy designs," Nessa confirmed with a beamy smile. It didn't sound like Emmylou knew exactly what they were, but at least she had the general idea. And she wanted to hear from more of them before she said much more herself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by natekka

Clara didn't feel like contributing this time round. She knew exactly what Illuminated Manuscripts were, but the urge to show off or share her knowledge wasn't there as she knew Professor Glendower would tell everyone anyway.

Instead, she wrote down notes, taking from her own knowledge and what other people were adding.

Nessa allowed her eyes to rest on Clara momentarily. And though she realized that the girl was perhaps not in the best mood to participate in the discussion, she did note that she was taking notes. Nessa gave her a small, yet encouraging smile.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

Nodding in understanding, Lux took out her notebook and opened it so that she could record everything. The topic moved on to how history was conveyed and she wondered what she knew about illuminated manuscripts. Not much but she still raised her hand. "They were written a LONG time ago and recorded by hand - which must have taken ages." They also had a lot of pictures on them, but Emmy had already mentioned that part.

Oh, Lux seemed to know a little bit about them. "Yes, they were written hundreds of years ago, in the Middle Ages, which was long before the invention of the printing press or quoting quills." So, yes, written by hand. "Some of the people that wrote them devoted much of their lives to it, spending hours on end in special rooms.."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom

"Are they old historical documents that light up?" he guessed. Context clues had led him there so...that was as good a guess as anything else he'd come up with.

"Not in the most literal sense, but you're own the right track!" Nessa gave him an encouraging smile at any rate. She'd expand on it soon enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meizzner

"They are very illuminating"

Nessa tilted her head at Dante as he offered the vaguest of answers. Not that she wasn’t used to that from him, but she knew he could do better than that. “Illuminating how?” He basically just repeated the name back to her and it wasn’t really an acceptable answer. She wasn’t all that impressed with the snort coming from the other side of the room in response either. Looks for you, Miss Valentine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

.... Except for he had no answer for this next question. What the heck was a illuminated manuscript or wait, was that what Professor Glendower called it?

Another quiet student. Nessa didn’t expect them all to know what Illuminated Manuscripts were, though it seemed she really did need to do quite a bit of explaining. Good thing she was prepared to do so! She hoped Zander was taking good notes or at least listening attentively.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mordred

Ethan raised his hand and waited for his turn again to answer. “I know manuscripts to be old texts, Professor. But, for it to be illuminated…is it, a well depicted text with illustrations to make the message more clear and enlightening?” Like, when you say someone is illuminated because they were enlightened with information that is rare, or…hard to acquire?

Yes, manuscripts were often old texts.. though not always, but still Nessa nodded to this part of Ethan’s answer as he was basically on the right track. And then she listened as he tried to work out the Illuminated part. “Well, yes, there are rich and intricate illustrations that accompanied the text.. but they were called Illuminated for a different reason.” Not a bad educated guess though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin

"Professor I think Illuminated manuscripts like highlight the work and give you the blueprints of what some of the great leaders tried to accomplish when they were alive?"

Nessa gave Kace a smile. He was incorrect in his guess, but it wasn’t so far-fetched. “Illuminated Manuscripts were not that, but those would make some great books, wouldn’t they?” And there were books like that out there, but not specifically what they were talking about right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessiqua

But now the second question. Illuminated Manuscript? Huh? Zhenya had never heard of such a thing, but perhaps she had read about them and forgotten in the hazy mess of NEWT study. There was a LOT of new information being piled into her brain every day, now, and it wouldn't be surprising for some other information to slip out. But... she didn't like not participating in class, so she raised her hand and said "Er... perhaps it was a method of reading a manuscript back centuries ago. They had to illuminate the... candles to see it?" She shook her head, she had no idea. Perhaps she should have just kept quiet.

”Not a bad guess,” Nessa smiled at Zhenya. “Illuminated does make us think of light and they did have to use candle back in that time as there was no electricity, but that is not what they really are..” She would clarify soon though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Awarlesta Black

No, she hadn't heard of the Illuminated Manuscripts, but since Professor Glendower was askiiiinnnnnnnnng, "Is it a manuscript with sick L.E.D backlighting?" That's a thing, yeah?

Hmm? Nessa furrowed her brow a bit as she had no idea what that was but it sounded interesting. “No, I don’t think so.. What is sick L.E.D. backlighting?” She’d like to know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

She wiggled her fingers, low at her cheek level. "Professor, it sounds like... pictures meant to help decipher the text. But I thought they were just regular pictures. Pretty ones, decorating like the first letter on a page or something."

Nessa listened to Dot’s answer next, nodding a bit. “Yes and no.. often the pictures are related to what the text is, but sometimes it’s more just decorative. Either way, it’s usually quite fancy.” But that wasn’t where the illuminated part came in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Illuminated Manuscripts? What in the name of awesome, majestic Hippogriffs were those? Adi hadn't the inkling so he was going to offer a guess. Or rather, an agreement. He raised his hand. "I agree with Zhenya. Maybe the had torches with cloths wrapped around it so they could light up these Manuscripts during the days before candles were invented.''

Yeah, no, it didn’t really help much to say that the subject she taught was boring and not her. Nessa still thought history was fascinating and she found it hard to believe that one of her best students did not agree. But she also thought something odd was going on with Adi today and she didn’t press the issue. Instead, she listened as he made an attempt to answer her next question. “No.. and even though they were written a very long time ago, candles had been invented long before. They even sometimes wrote them by candlelight… but not why they were illuminated.” Still, she gave him an encouraging smile at his effort.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sararara

She put her quill down to wiggle the fingers of her right hand just in case they were thinking of cramping up (fingers could by moody like that), as she listened to Professor Glendower introduce the next question. Illuminated manuscripts? She sure hadn't heard of those. The fourth year half-raised her hand just to give it a try. It couldn't hurt to guess, right? "Is it history involving....light?" She DID know what illuminated meant, so that kind of made sense. And light was pretty important so it's history should've been too.

”Not in the most literal sense, no..” she smiled at Norah, appreciative of her effort. “It’s more of a figurative term to describe the artwork.” But she could understand why someone would think that about the word.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Symphora

He was going to sit this one through because he had no idea how to answer his History of Magic Professor. Illuminating manuscripts? What were they? Henric had to stifled his laughter at one of his classmates answers. L.E.D lights?! That was a good one! Oh merlin...control yourself Henric...you wouldn't want to lose point for this too., he thought amusingly. He glanced over to Adi and wondered if he found it funny as well but nope...Adi seemed to be in a very bad mood, he was staring daggers at the back of Benny's head.Oh dear...Henric reached out for the Hufflepuff prefect and silently patted his friend shoulder.He whispered and smiled a little towards Adi,"Yo man...its okay..."

Nessa didn’t miss the reassuring gesture Henric gave to Adi. She didn’t know exactly what was going on there, but it was good to know he had the support of friends. Hopefully it wouldn’t interfere with class today.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomRaven

Biting his quill, Jackson thought again. "Well uh... it's a kind of history source but I think it's not just the text. Maybe there's illustration of sort of symbols." He spoke as he raised his hand though he wasn't really sure about that. Well, at least he spoke up. That matters.

”Yes, Illuminated Manuscripts are filled with beautiful, decorative illustrations,” she nodded. “That is one thing that sets apart these historical documents, the artistic beauty of it.” And that was one reason why they were some of her favorite historical books.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Harry174

Angel looked at the Professor and smiled as she raised her hand. "isn't illuminated manuscript a sort of book from Ancient history?" Angel was sure it was. "Though instead of just having words it has pictures that shows you what happened, like we sometime bury time capsules so that people can see in the future what we did." Angel now wanted to bury a time capsule for someone to find in a few hundred years.

Sometimes Nessa wasn’t sure if Angel was joking or what by her answers, but this time she knew she was fairly accurate. “It is a book with decorative illustrations, yes,” she nodded. “Sometimes it is related to the text, but not always… Oh, we should do a time capsule sometime!” That would be totes fun! But she knew she was getting off topic.. moving on..

Quote:

Originally Posted by SilverTiger

But she stayed quiet when it came to the discussion of illuminated manuscripts. Anything she knew about them had already been said anyway. She didn’t see a reason to repeat an answer. It wouldn’t accomplish anything except make it seem she didn’t know anything special, when she knew she did.

Nessa was still rather concerned about Brooklyn, though she knew when one didn’t feel well one likely did not want to offer much in the way of participation. She supposed it was enough that she was present and if she was really in that bad of a state, she likely would not have made it to today’s lesson. Still, Nessa would keep an eye on her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy

As the lesson began there really wasn't much for Hady to say. Most of her classmates seemed to have the answer pretty well covered for the time being and well honestly she herself didn't have a better answer. What was an Illuminated manuscript anyways? She knew what both words meant separately but together...yeah not entirely sure. Therefore the third year choose to remain silent this time simply resting her hands on her lap and looking back and forth between those that had spoken whenever she wasn't jotting down a line or two that was being said onto her parchment. One never really knew when they'd need something especially in class.

At least Hady was being attentive and taking notes even if she didn’t have anything to add to the discussion. That was fine, Nessa would be moving the class along soon enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

The question then. Illuminated Manuscript. Toby... had absolutely no idea. But, he knew his own idea was about be be spectacularly wrong, but Glendower had asked for guesses so he raised his hand. "Sounds like it could be a thing where there's, like, a book of information, the manuscript part, and a bunch of experts add their knowledge to it and make annotations and additions and stuff, which is the illuminated part, 'cause sometimes illuminated means clarifying something like with knowledge and stuff." See? It was ridiculous but it made logical sense. Kinda. "So then in the end you're left with the original book of information and then you could see what's been changed as people have found it out and stuff, all the annotations and stuff. But I'm like 99% sure I'm wrong."

Well, yeah, he was wrong, but Nessa thought he made a really good attempt and she gave him a bright smile that said so. “That would be a wonderful collaboration, wouldn’t it? Especially if they were experts and not adding things that struck their fancy..” Maybe there already books like that, but it wasn’t the focus of the lesson. “Illuminated manuscripts are not that though.. they refer more to the illustrations in addition to the text.”

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixStar

"How do we know that anything is true if we are just going off of what people say?" That could go for textbooks too. Somebody had to write them and how did they know for sure that everything was correct? If AJ was going to write a book or tell some exciting story you better believe she was going to come out looking fabulous.

”That is why it is always important to consider the source,” Nessa said in response to Aubrey’s inquiry from the previous question. “If there is more than one source saying the same thing, it is more likely to be accurate… but sometimes a story is just a story.” And those were pretty great too if just for the entertainment value.

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurange

Professor Glendower had started her thing and Brian had no idea what she was on about, this time. Actually, he rarely ever understood what she was on about. It was pretty sad, but really all he had heard of this time was Illuminated Manuscripts. And the only thing that was currently coming to mind was the strange image of light-up music sheets. Written in glittery pens. Therefore, since Brian was fairly certain that glittery light-up music sheets were NOT the case, he would shut up and listen. Maybe he would even take notes. Only if the answers made sense, though. Some of them were as downright outrageous as his own.

Another quiet student.. Nessa was a little surprised that more of them didn’t know at least a little bit about Illuminated Manuscripts. They weren’t really that obscure. But it was important that even if they didn’t know, especially if they didn’t know, that they were paying attention. Nessa gave Brian a big smile and mimed taking notes. He should probably do that if he was as unsure as he appeared.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

She had to refrain from laughing though at some of the answers students were given. But that younger Slytherin girl, Dot, seemed to have a good idea. Pictures, yes. Specially, "Picture books, Professor." Tia answered simply after raising hand.

”At its most basic, yes,” Nessa nodded. But she expected a little more expansion on the thought, especially after the creative answer TiaMarie offered for the last question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by feeheeheeny

Illuminated Manuscripts, though - Sophie knew what they were, and thought they were cool to look at. She agreed most with Ethan's explanation of it, even though he sounded like he was guessing, so... she stayed quiet. Her classmates had it covered.

Perhaps it was about time to wrap up the discussion as fewer answers were forthcoming from the students and the ones that had been offered were starting to become either repetitive or too vague. She noted that Sophie had nothing to add, perhaps for not wanting to sound repetitive or vague, and she moved on about to summarize the discussion…

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

But they were moving on, and Eden tried her best to keep up. She had no clue what an Illuminated Manuscript was. But. Eh. It sounded similar to..."THE ILLUMINATI? Is it related to the Illuminati?!" she was making a guess. A super far-stretched probably DUMB guess. But it was a guess.

…but Eden had something to say first. Nessa tilted her head, then shook it, offering her a small smile. “No, dear.. the names may sound remotely familiar, but neither has to do with the other.” Especially considering they were millennia apart.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104

"Illuminati confirmed," she whispered under her breath at Eden, then drew a triangle on her parchment.

Hearing a hushed voice, her eyes snapped to the Hufflepuff prefect. “Speak up, Miss McAlister?” Nessa couldn’t quite make out her answer and wasn’t so sure she was being relevant to the current discussion.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

"The Illuminated word refers to illustrations...most likely...because they were painted or further decorated with reflective materials that catch the light. For example, gold and silver inks. Not always, of course. In general, the manuscripts included marginalia, borders, embellished initials, etc..."

And that was exactly what she was looking for in terms of illumination. The prefect was rewarded with a bright smile. "Yes, thank you, Gabriel," she exclaimed, thankful that someone made that connection. "They do get the name "illuminated" because the richly ornamented pages were enhanced with gold and silver leaf - and sometimes inks - that would reflect the light. They were quite expensive to make but quite beautiful and highly valued." They would hopefully get into more of a discussion once they got started...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera

Zeke shrugged to himself, and instead of embarrassing himself just listened to the others.

...though some of the students seemed a little reluctant to participate. Nessa gave Zeke a brief, yet encouraging smile. There would be more chance to participate and she'd expect him to take advantage of that opportunity.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talikins

"Professor, I'd say its the beginning of story telling through pictures? So, in other words, I would say that it could be the beginning of children's books as we know them today or it could be the beginning of using art for things other than posh-posh portraits?" Perhaps she had repeated slightly what the others had said, but she did put a little bit of her own input of why they'd possible talking about this. Being Abbi, though, she'd probably be far off track as she was always thinking exceedingly different to others. That was the thing with Abbi, she wasn't silly, she just had a very different mind-frame.

Hmm.. Abbi wasn't too far off and she had a pretty interesting take on them. "There was other art before Illuminated Manuscripts that were not portraiture, such as sculpture and ornamented vessels like vases, but these are the first artistic books. I hadn't thought of them as being precursor to children's books though. Perhaps there is a connection... though these books were not at all intended for children." Not that they were adult in nature, but because they were for wealthy patrons.

Alright, she supposed that was enough for basic answers about what an Illuminated Manuscript was. It would probably be best for her to further explain and move on with the lesson. "Thank you for your contributions everyone," Nessa smiled at them all. Some of them were spot on with their answers, some of them not so much, but she appreciated the effort. "Illuminated Manuscripts were historical documents created during the Middle Ages, which was several hundred years ago. The word manuscript means written by hand - which they were, typically done by monks who would spend hours a day in special rooms to write these books. They were often religious in nature, but not always. There were many books relaying stories and feats throughout history as well.

"These manuscripts were beautifully decorated with ornate and intricate illustrations throughout the book. They would include embellished initials as the first letter of the text on a page. There might be decorative borders and lavish illustrations of people, flora, and fauna. And as Gabriel pointed out, they get the term "illuminated" because of the way they are colored. In addition to the bold colors, they would also include gold-leaf, silver-leaf, or metallic inks that reflect the light and make it not only appear to light up but give them a valued, opulent appearance. Of course, at first, this was a rather expensive addition to these books.. Later Illuminated Manuscripts would also encompass books of the same nature with or without the gold or silver leaf.

"We are going to make our own "Illuminated Manuscripts" today, but first I have some examples to show you for inspiration and understanding!" Nessa pulled off the cover from the table to reveal piles of parchment, book covers, decorative papers, colored pencils, various colors of inks - including gold and silver, and several page reproductions of illuminated manuscripts which she picked up. "Now Illuminated Manuscripts are better known in Muggle history, but they are also found in Wizarding history as well. Perhaps the best known example is an illustration showing wizards dismounting early broomsticks in visible pain. This was of course before the invention of the cushioning charm." Not her favorite way to travel but not the point. And it was a shame that she couldn't get her hands on that example. "Of course one of the differences between the Muggle illustrations and magic ones are the ability to move." Which they would get the chance to do as well.

Starting at one corner of the room, she handed a student at the front of the room her magical illustration example to look at then pass around. "Now, some of these are just replications, they are not all originals. This is not because they do not exist, in fact Illuminated Manuscripts are some of the most well-preserved works of art from the Middle Ages, but even today, they are very expensive to acquire." And her teacher salary did not quite permit that, though she was happy to have acquired some on loan from a museum. She handed out a few more examples - an embellished initial, several examples of ornate illustrations, and a carpet page. "This last one is called a carpet page. Illuminated Manuscripts did not have what we know as a Table of Contents, instead they would include pages filled completely with decorative motifs at the beginning of each chapter as a way to divide them."

Once she allowed the pages to be passed around, she continued. "Now, I'd like each of you to come up and collect your supplies. Everyone should take about twenty pieces of parchment, two pieces of decorative paper, a book cover, and whatever inks or colored pencils you'd like. Make sure to take a gold or silver as well, though there may not be enough so you might have to partner up and share those inks." Not a big deal though, she thought, but they were necessary for the Illuminated part. "While you're getting those, let's continue the discussion. Why do you think it was important to include gold or silver in the original Manuscripts? And why do you think after hundreds of years, they are still so well-preserved?" She didn't expect them to know, but she did expect them to think about it and make deductions.

OOC - For this part, your character should be looking at and passing around the examples, gathering supplies, and answering the questions at the end. I don't have a set number of posts for you to complete this as participation points will be awarded on quality, not quantity.

We will move on tomorrow.

06-11-2015, 04:47 PM	#82 (permalink)
emjay DMAC & DERP Pygmy Puff Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: working Posts: 18,079 Hogwarts RPG Name: Phoenix Marchbanks Ravenclaw Fourth Year Hogwarts RPG Name: Wiley Whittebrook Hufflepuff Second Year x12 x5	Unforgivably Cursed \| adultescent Quote: Originally Posted by DinosaursOnASpaceship Emmylou nodded as she listened to the professor. She jotted down some notes because she didn't know if she would have to remember something for a later time. She was sort of right on that part but then again it was a discussion. Moving on. Next question. Illuminated Manuscripts? Weren't those the the fancy looking books? With the text that wasn't very easy to read? Emmylou raised her hand. "Are those the books and papers that have all of those fancy designs on them?" Maybe that wasn't really an answer but she really didn't know what else to say. "They actually do have fancy designs," Nessa confirmed with a beamy smile. It didn't sound like Emmylou knew exactly what they were, but at least she had the general idea. And she wanted to hear from more of them before she said much more herself. Quote: Originally Posted by natekka Clara didn't feel like contributing this time round. She knew exactly what Illuminated Manuscripts were, but the urge to show off or share her knowledge wasn't there as she knew Professor Glendower would tell everyone anyway. Instead, she wrote down notes, taking from her own knowledge and what other people were adding. Nessa allowed her eyes to rest on Clara momentarily. And though she realized that the girl was perhaps not in the best mood to participate in the discussion, she did note that she was taking notes. Nessa gave her a small, yet encouraging smile. Quote: Originally Posted by Squishy Nodding in understanding, Lux took out her notebook and opened it so that she could record everything. The topic moved on to how history was conveyed and she wondered what she knew about illuminated manuscripts. Not much but she still raised her hand. "They were written a LONG time ago and recorded by hand - which must have taken ages." They also had a lot of pictures on them, but Emmy had already mentioned that part. Oh, Lux seemed to know a little bit about them. "Yes, they were written hundreds of years ago, in the Middle Ages, which was long before the invention of the printing press or quoting quills." So, yes, written by hand. "Some of the people that wrote them devoted much of their lives to it, spending hours on end in special rooms.." Quote: Originally Posted by Lissy Longbottom "Are they old historical documents that light up?" he guessed. Context clues had led him there so...that was as good a guess as anything else he'd come up with. "Not in the most literal sense, but you're own the right track!" Nessa gave him an encouraging smile at any rate. She'd expand on it soon enough. Quote: Originally Posted by Meizzner "They are very illuminating" Nessa tilted her head at Dante as he offered the vaguest of answers. Not that she wasn’t used to that from him, but she knew he could do better than that. “Illuminating how?” He basically just repeated the name back to her and it wasn’t really an acceptable answer. She wasn’t all that impressed with the snort coming from the other side of the room in response either. Looks for you, Miss Valentine. Quote: Originally Posted by ArianaBlack .... Except for he had no answer for this next question. What the heck was a illuminated manuscript or wait, was that what Professor Glendower called it? Another quiet student. Nessa didn’t expect them all to know what Illuminated Manuscripts were, though it seemed she really did need to do quite a bit of explaining. Good thing she was prepared to do so! She hoped Zander was taking good notes or at least listening attentively. Quote: Originally Posted by Mordred Ethan raised his hand and waited for his turn again to answer. “I know manuscripts to be old texts, Professor. But, for it to be illuminated…is it, a well depicted text with illustrations to make the message more clear and enlightening?” Like, when you say someone is illuminated because they were enlightened with information that is rare, or…hard to acquire? Yes, manuscripts were often old texts.. though not always, but still Nessa nodded to this part of Ethan’s answer as he was basically on the right track. And then she listened as he tried to work out the Illuminated part. “Well, yes, there are rich and intricate illustrations that accompanied the text.. but they were called Illuminated for a different reason.” Not a bad educated guess though. Quote: Originally Posted by Expecto-Penguin "Professor I think Illuminated manuscripts like highlight the work and give you the blueprints of what some of the great leaders tried to accomplish when they were alive?" Nessa gave Kace a smile. He was incorrect in his guess, but it wasn’t so far-fetched. “Illuminated Manuscripts were not that, but those would make some great books, wouldn’t they?” And there were books like that out there, but not specifically what they were talking about right now. Quote: Originally Posted by Jessiqua But now the second question. Illuminated Manuscript? Huh? Zhenya had never heard of such a thing, but perhaps she had read about them and forgotten in the hazy mess of NEWT study. There was a LOT of new information being piled into her brain every day, now, and it wouldn't be surprising for some other information to slip out. But... she didn't like not participating in class, so she raised her hand and said "Er... perhaps it was a method of reading a manuscript back centuries ago. They had to illuminate the... candles to see it?" She shook her head, she had no idea. Perhaps she should have just kept quiet. ”Not a bad guess,” Nessa smiled at Zhenya. “Illuminated does make us think of light and they did have to use candle back in that time as there was no electricity, but that is not what they really are..” She would clarify soon though. Quote: Originally Posted by Awarlesta Black No, she hadn't heard of the Illuminated Manuscripts, but since Professor Glendower was askiiiinnnnnnnnng, "Is it a manuscript with sick L.E.D backlighting?" That's a thing, yeah? Hmm? Nessa furrowed her brow a bit as she had no idea what that was but it sounded interesting. “No, I don’t think so.. What is sick L.E.D. backlighting?” She’d like to know. Quote: Originally Posted by Cassirin She wiggled her fingers, low at her cheek level. "Professor, it sounds like... pictures meant to help decipher the text. But I thought they were just regular pictures. Pretty ones, decorating like the first letter on a page or something." Nessa listened to Dot’s answer next, nodding a bit. “Yes and no.. often the pictures are related to what the text is, but sometimes it’s more just decorative. Either way, it’s usually quite fancy.” But that wasn’t where the illuminated part came in. Quote: Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19 Illuminated Manuscripts? What in the name of awesome, majestic Hippogriffs were those? Adi hadn't the inkling so he was going to offer a guess. Or rather, an agreement. He raised his hand. "I agree with Zhenya. Maybe the had torches with cloths wrapped around it so they could light up these Manuscripts during the days before candles were invented.'' Yeah, no, it didn’t really help much to say that the subject she taught was boring and not her. Nessa still thought history was fascinating and she found it hard to believe that one of her best students did not agree. But she also thought something odd was going on with Adi today and she didn’t press the issue. Instead, she listened as he made an attempt to answer her next question. “No.. and even though they were written a very long time ago, candles had been invented long before. They even sometimes wrote them by candlelight… but not why they were illuminated.” Still, she gave him an encouraging smile at his effort. Quote: Originally Posted by Sararara She put her quill down to wiggle the fingers of her right hand just in case they were thinking of cramping up (fingers could by moody like that), as she listened to Professor Glendower introduce the next question. Illuminated manuscripts? She sure hadn't heard of those. The fourth year half-raised her hand just to give it a try. It couldn't hurt to guess, right? "Is it history involving....light?" She DID know what illuminated meant, so that kind of made sense. And light was pretty important so it's history should've been too. ”Not in the most literal sense, no..” she smiled at Norah, appreciative of her effort. “It’s more of a figurative term to describe the artwork.” But she could understand why someone would think that about the word. Quote: Originally Posted by Symphora He was going to sit this one through because he had no idea how to answer his History of Magic Professor. Illuminating manuscripts? What were they? Henric had to stifled his laughter at one of his classmates answers. L.E.D lights?! That was a good one! Oh merlin...control yourself Henric...you wouldn't want to lose point for this too., he thought amusingly. He glanced over to Adi and wondered if he found it funny as well but nope...Adi seemed to be in a very bad mood, he was staring daggers at the back of Benny's head.Oh dear...Henric reached out for the Hufflepuff prefect and silently patted his friend shoulder.He whispered and smiled a little towards Adi,"Yo man...its okay..." Nessa didn’t miss the reassuring gesture Henric gave to Adi. She didn’t know exactly what was going on there, but it was good to know he had the support of friends. Hopefully it wouldn’t interfere with class today. Quote: Originally Posted by RandomRaven Biting his quill, Jackson thought again. "Well uh... it's a kind of history source but I think it's not just the text. Maybe there's illustration of sort of symbols." He spoke as he raised his hand though he wasn't really sure about that. Well, at least he spoke up. That matters. ”Yes, Illuminated Manuscripts are filled with beautiful, decorative illustrations,” she nodded. “That is one thing that sets apart these historical documents, the artistic beauty of it.” And that was one reason why they were some of her favorite historical books. Quote: Originally Posted by Harry174 Angel looked at the Professor and smiled as she raised her hand. "isn't illuminated manuscript a sort of book from Ancient history?" Angel was sure it was. "Though instead of just having words it has pictures that shows you what happened, like we sometime bury time capsules so that people can see in the future what we did." Angel now wanted to bury a time capsule for someone to find in a few hundred years. Sometimes Nessa wasn’t sure if Angel was joking or what by her answers, but this time she knew she was fairly accurate. “It is a book with decorative illustrations, yes,” she nodded. “Sometimes it is related to the text, but not always… Oh, we should do a time capsule sometime!” That would be totes fun! But she knew she was getting off topic.. moving on.. Quote: Originally Posted by SilverTiger But she stayed quiet when it came to the discussion of illuminated manuscripts. Anything she knew about them had already been said anyway. She didn’t see a reason to repeat an answer. It wouldn’t accomplish anything except make it seem she didn’t know anything special, when she knew she did. Nessa was still rather concerned about Brooklyn, though she knew when one didn’t feel well one likely did not want to offer much in the way of participation. She supposed it was enough that she was present and if she was really in that bad of a state, she likely would not have made it to today’s lesson. Still, Nessa would keep an eye on her. Quote: Originally Posted by SpiritWolfe Malfoy As the lesson began there really wasn't much for Hady to say. Most of her classmates seemed to have the answer pretty well covered for the time being and well honestly she herself didn't have a better answer. What was an Illuminated manuscript anyways? She knew what both words meant separately but together...yeah not entirely sure. Therefore the third year choose to remain silent this time simply resting her hands on her lap and looking back and forth between those that had spoken whenever she wasn't jotting down a line or two that was being said onto her parchment. One never really knew when they'd need something especially in class. At least Hady was being attentive and taking notes even if she didn’t have anything to add to the discussion. That was fine, Nessa would be moving the class along soon enough. Quote: Originally Posted by Felixir The question then. Illuminated Manuscript. Toby... had absolutely no idea. But, he knew his own idea was about be be spectacularly wrong, but Glendower had asked for guesses so he raised his hand. "Sounds like it could be a thing where there's, like, a book of information, the manuscript part, and a bunch of experts add their knowledge to it and make annotations and additions and stuff, which is the illuminated part, 'cause sometimes illuminated means clarifying something like with knowledge and stuff." See? It was ridiculous but it made logical sense. Kinda. "So then in the end you're left with the original book of information and then you could see what's been changed as people have found it out and stuff, all the annotations and stuff. But I'm like 99% sure I'm wrong." Well, yeah, he was wrong, but Nessa thought he made a really good attempt and she gave him a bright smile that said so. “That would be a wonderful collaboration, wouldn’t it? Especially if they were experts and not adding things that struck their fancy..” Maybe there already books like that, but it wasn’t the focus of the lesson. “Illuminated manuscripts are not that though.. they refer more to the illustrations in addition to the text.” Quote: Originally Posted by PhoenixStar "How do we know that anything is true if we are just going off of what people say?" That could go for textbooks too. Somebody had to write them and how did they know for sure that everything was correct? If AJ was going to write a book or tell some exciting story you better believe she was going to come out looking fabulous. ”That is why it is always important to consider the source,” Nessa said in response to Aubrey’s inquiry from the previous question. “If there is more than one source saying the same thing, it is more likely to be accurate… but sometimes a story is just a story.” And those were pretty great too if just for the entertainment value. Quote: Originally Posted by laurange Professor Glendower had started her thing and Brian had no idea what she was on about, this time. Actually, he rarely ever understood what she was on about. It was pretty sad, but really all he had heard of this time was Illuminated Manuscripts. And the only thing that was currently coming to mind was the strange image of light-up music sheets. Written in glittery pens. Therefore, since Brian was fairly certain that glittery light-up music sheets were NOT the case, he would shut up and listen. Maybe he would even take notes. Only if the answers made sense, though. Some of them were as downright outrageous as his own. Another quiet student.. Nessa was a little surprised that more of them didn’t know at least a little bit about Illuminated Manuscripts. They weren’t really that obscure. But it was important that even if they didn’t know, especially if they didn’t know, that they were paying attention. Nessa gave Brian a big smile and mimed taking notes. He should probably do that if he was as unsure as he appeared. Quote: Originally Posted by PhoenixRising She had to refrain from laughing though at some of the answers students were given. But that younger Slytherin girl, Dot, seemed to have a good idea. Pictures, yes. Specially, "Picture books, Professor." Tia answered simply after raising hand. ”At its most basic, yes,” Nessa nodded. But she expected a little more expansion on the thought, especially after the creative answer TiaMarie offered for the last question. Quote: Originally Posted by feeheeheeny Illuminated Manuscripts, though - Sophie knew what they were, and thought they were cool to look at. She agreed most with Ethan's explanation of it, even though he sounded like he was guessing, so... she stayed quiet. Her classmates had it covered. Perhaps it was about time to wrap up the discussion as fewer answers were forthcoming from the students and the ones that had been offered were starting to become either repetitive or too vague. She noted that Sophie had nothing to add, perhaps for not wanting to sound repetitive or vague, and she moved on about to summarize the discussion… Quote: Originally Posted by kayquilz But they were moving on, and Eden tried her best to keep up. She had no clue what an Illuminated Manuscript was. But. Eh. It sounded similar to..."THE ILLUMINATI? Is it related to the Illuminati?!" she was making a guess. A super far-stretched probably DUMB guess. But it was a guess. …but Eden had something to say first. Nessa tilted her head, then shook it, offering her a small smile. “No, dear.. the names may sound remotely familiar, but neither has to do with the other.” Especially considering they were millennia apart. Quote: Originally Posted by ScarletCharm104 "Illuminati confirmed," she whispered under her breath at Eden, then drew a triangle on her parchment. Hearing a hushed voice, her eyes snapped to the Hufflepuff prefect. “Speak up, Miss McAlister?” Nessa couldn’t quite make out her answer and wasn’t so sure she was being relevant to the current discussion. Quote: Originally Posted by Govoni "The Illuminated word refers to illustrations...most likely...because they were painted or further decorated with reflective materials that catch the light. For example, gold and silver inks. Not always, of course. In general, the manuscripts included marginalia, borders, embellished initials, etc..." And that was exactly what she was looking for in terms of illumination. The prefect was rewarded with a bright smile. "Yes, thank you, Gabriel," she exclaimed, thankful that someone made that connection. "They do get the name "illuminated" because the richly ornamented pages were enhanced with gold and silver leaf - and sometimes inks - that would reflect the light. They were quite expensive to make but quite beautiful and highly valued." They would hopefully get into more of a discussion once they got started... Quote: Originally Posted by Hera Zeke shrugged to himself, and instead of embarrassing himself just listened to the others. ...though some of the students seemed a little reluctant to participate. Nessa gave Zeke a brief, yet encouraging smile. There would be more chance to participate and she'd expect him to take advantage of that opportunity. Quote: Originally Posted by Talikins "Professor, I'd say its the beginning of story telling through pictures? So, in other words, I would say that it could be the beginning of children's books as we know them today or it could be the beginning of using art for things other than posh-posh portraits?" Perhaps she had repeated slightly what the others had said, but she did put a little bit of her own input of why they'd possible talking about this. Being Abbi, though, she'd probably be far off track as she was always thinking exceedingly different to others. That was the thing with Abbi, she wasn't silly, she just had a very different mind-frame. Hmm.. Abbi wasn't too far off and she had a pretty interesting take on them. "There was other art before Illuminated Manuscripts that were not portraiture, such as sculpture and ornamented vessels like vases, but these are the first artistic books. I hadn't thought of them as being precursor to children's books though. Perhaps there is a connection... though these books were not at all intended for children." Not that they were adult in nature, but because they were for wealthy patrons. Alright, she supposed that was enough for basic answers about what an Illuminated Manuscript was. It would probably be best for her to further explain and move on with the lesson. "Thank you for your contributions everyone," Nessa smiled at them all. Some of them were spot on with their answers, some of them not so much, but she appreciated the effort. "Illuminated Manuscripts were historical documents created during the Middle Ages, which was several hundred years ago. The word manuscript means written by hand - which they were, typically done by monks who would spend hours a day in special rooms to write these books. They were often religious in nature, but not always. There were many books relaying stories and feats throughout history as well. "These manuscripts were beautifully decorated with ornate and intricate illustrations throughout the book. They would include embellished initials as the first letter of the text on a page. There might be decorative borders and lavish illustrations of people, flora, and fauna. And as Gabriel pointed out, they get the term "illuminated" because of the way they are colored. In addition to the bold colors, they would also include gold-leaf, silver-leaf, or metallic inks that reflect the light and make it not only appear to light up but give them a valued, opulent appearance. Of course, at first, this was a rather expensive addition to these books.. Later Illuminated Manuscripts would also encompass books of the same nature with or without the gold or silver leaf. "We are going to make our own "Illuminated Manuscripts" today, but first I have some examples to show you for inspiration and understanding!" Nessa pulled off the cover from the table to reveal piles of parchment, book covers, decorative papers, colored pencils, various colors of inks - including gold and silver, and several page reproductions of illuminated manuscripts which she picked up. "Now Illuminated Manuscripts are better known in Muggle history, but they are also found in Wizarding history as well. Perhaps the best known example is an illustration showing wizards dismounting early broomsticks in visible pain. This was of course before the invention of the cushioning charm." Not her favorite way to travel but not the point. And it was a shame that she couldn't get her hands on that example. "Of course one of the differences between the Muggle illustrations and magic ones are the ability to move." Which they would get the chance to do as well. Starting at one corner of the room, she handed a student at the front of the room her magical illustration example to look at then pass around. "Now, some of these are just replications, they are not all originals. This is not because they do not exist, in fact Illuminated Manuscripts are some of the most well-preserved works of art from the Middle Ages, but even today, they are very expensive to acquire." And her teacher salary did not quite permit that, though she was happy to have acquired some on loan from a museum. She handed out a few more examples - an embellished initial, several examples of ornate illustrations, and a carpet page. "This last one is called a carpet page. Illuminated Manuscripts did not have what we know as a Table of Contents, instead they would include pages filled completely with decorative motifs at the beginning of each chapter as a way to divide them." Once she allowed the pages to be passed around, she continued. "Now, I'd like each of you to come up and collect your supplies. Everyone should take about twenty pieces of parchment, two pieces of decorative paper, a book cover, and whatever inks or colored pencils you'd like. Make sure to take a gold or silver as well, though there may not be enough so you might have to partner up and share those inks." Not a big deal though, she thought, but they were necessary for the Illuminated part. "While you're getting those, let's continue the discussion. Why do you think it was important to include gold or silver in the original Manuscripts? And why do you think after hundreds of years, they are still so well-preserved?" She didn't expect them to know, but she did expect them to think about it and make deductions. OOC - For this part, your character should be looking at and passing around the examples, gathering supplies, and answering the questions at the end. I don't have a set number of posts for you to complete this as participation points will be awarded on quality, not quantity. We will move on tomorrow. __________________ started like a knight in a fairytale_______________________________________________ ended like a moth in flames______________________ ______________________don't you worry I'll be fine _________________________________________________you were good for the plot line