Ilumination

As evidenced by this and other manuscript pages, The Book of the Queen is beautifully illustrated and is a good example of the art of illumination. Although the gold has faded from its original state, it is still quite incredible. The intricacy of these border designs, miniatures, and initials are one of the reasons that many medieval manuscripts are such works of art.

One theory is that at least some of the artwork done in the manuscript was completed by a famous woman artist of the time period named Anastaise. In Christine's own words can be found her praise for the artist:

"... Regarding what you say about women expert in the art of painting, I know a woman today, named Anastaise, who is so learned and skilled in painting manuscript borders and miniature backgrounds that one cannot find an artisan in all the city of Paris -- where the best in the world are found -- who can surpass her, nor who can paint flowers and details as delicately as she does, nor whose work is more highly esteemed, no matter how rich or precious the book is. People cannot stop talking about her. And I know this from experience, for she has executed several things for me which stand out among the ornamental borders of the great masters" (Farber, n.d.).

The illuminations in The Book of the Queen are polychromatic illustrations versus the grisaille technique (painting in shades of brown or grey) used in Christine's earlier manuscripts. Obtaining the pigments used in illuminated manuscripts could be a complex task and the recipes for them were carefully guarded secrets handed down from a craftsman to his apprentice. Some of the most favored colors were red and blue, but gold was highly valued as well. For example, blue was originally from lapis lazuli, later it was extracted from plants like woad or indigo. Gold leaf was used in many illuminations and a single coin would be pounded by the craftsman to create the tissue thin gold leaf. Of course, gold was a very important part of the classic illuminated manuscript.