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Tangled Manuscripts

Tangled Manuscripts

Rick writes:

I came across these gems while sorting through files of old pictures. 

About eight years ago, Maria and I were in western Massachusetts. These beautiful manuscripts were in a restaurant where we enjoyed a lovely dinner. I took these pictures with the intent to share them with you. Well, better late than never. (Or, maybe I already did and we all get to enjoy them again!)

I estimate that these manuscripts are from the 17th or 18th century. They are all hand-lettered on vellum, probably a sheepskin or a goatskin.

The pen strokes were beautiful, so fresh and crisp, you wonder if the ink was still wet. But take a look at the tangles embellishing the initial capital letters. 

Here's a closer look  . . .

Check out those aura lines holding delicious fragments . . . and that gently crenelated outer aura. What a hand!

And in this next close-up . . .

More auras surrounding some flux (or is it mooka?) with some tiny orbs in the interstices. And what is that in the middle of the Q? I haven't seen that before. That has great potential for a new border tangle.

Check out the background in that angled pattern. It's not a solid color. It's a tight cross-hatching. What care and affection went into this creation! Perhaps in some dimension, the scribes' hearts are basking in the appreciation of thousands of readers admiring these precious jewels. 

Here's a beautiful large illuminated C with marginalia:

I love that positive/negative medallion in the margin with the vinings echoing sampson or is that icanthis? Look at that wonderful adaptation of hollis inside the letter. What a great idea to use hollis to totally fill a section as it curves and grows within itself. 

When I interrupted Maria that quiet Saturday back in 2003, she was embellishing a gilded letter with simple patterns in the spirit of these manuscripts. If you've heard our story, that was the seed inspiration for this grand Zentangle adventure. I think that is one reason we were so drawn to these manuscripts.

Here are a couple more examples of some of the smaller initial caps using mooka, hollis, and, of course, lots of auraing.

Here's one more . . .

Notice the triangular fragment to the right of the "S." It looks like fragment F12 in Zentangle Primer Vol 1. What's old is new again. Or, what's new is old again!

See how the artist uses aura in the above three letters to create a slight space between the interior tangle and the letter. That is a familiar technique in Zentangle compositions when a tangle is next to another shape.

And here is the other large capital with marginalia:

 The delicate hollis in the margin balances the more structured hollis inside the Q.

 In this last close-up we focus on that intertwining cable-like pattern:

I've started playing with different ways to deconstruct it to create a step-out. I think it might be enjoyable to tangle.

This can be a fun exercise for you to explore deconstruction. 

Deconstruct ( dē′ • kən • strŭkt′ ) - To reduce a pattern to its elemental strokes so that a user of the Zentangle Method can recreate it as a tangle, by repeating those strokes one at a time in a simple, structured sequence.

If you'd like to play along, send a picture of your step-out to julie@zentangle.com and I'll share some of them in my next blog post. I look forward to seeing possible different ways to approach this pattern in a Zentangle way.

(This may already be a tangle out in the Zentangle universe. If it is, let me know. But even if it is, you might try creating your own step-out first.)

Have fun with all this!

Enjoy,

Rick

P.S.

If you're new to the Zentangle blog, the words in italic are names of patterns that we call tangles. A good way to see what tangles look like is to download the Zentangle Mosaic app. It works on iOS and Android. You can search the contents for free. You can subscribe if you want to post and comment.

R

Rick Roberts

37 comments

  • I enjoy the transformation that happens when we start with the “negative spaces”, so my stepout starts, like Bosch, with alternating triangles. I’m sure there’s more than one way to deconstruct the intertwined pattern, and look forward to seeing others. Thanks for the inspiration/challenge.

    Zebedee on

  • Absolutely fascinating – thank you so much for these exquisite photos & the backstory. Now that is a challenge that cannot be refused – shall work on that.

    Evy Browning on

  • um…. sorry, comment 3 to correct spelling – Benoit Furet :)

    Michelle Dugdale on

  • A second comment for an extra note – thanks also to Helen for the Benoit Ferret’s work referral – it is amazing!

    Michelle Dugdale on

  • Another interesting and inspiring BLOG, thanks for sharing! I love old hand-lettering and manuscripts too…. as well as antique hand-painted maps. I actually received the book of ‘Mira Calligraphiae Monumenta’ for Christmas, following Rick & Maria’s session and enthusiasm at zenAgain2021 (also other books shown/shared by Rick & Maria including ‘Leonardo da Vinci and the Secrets of the Codex Atlanticus’).
    I followed Rick’s suggestion to ‘play along’ and have sent my step-out to Julie for that intertwining cable-like pattern identified and highlighted by Rick – thanks for the challenge Rick!

    Michelle Dugdale CZT37, Australia on

  • Wow, what a great coincidence! Thank you for this blog post.

    I was in the middle of creating my new website – for the Zentangle workshops I am planning to give – when your mail about the new Certified Zentangle Teachers from CZT-EU #5 arrived. As I am one of them, I enjoy it very much to be officially welcomed by you!

    On my website I have a chapter about The Zentangle Method, about your story and how it became the start of Zentangle. To decorate this I copied a picture of a puzzle initial from an old manuscript (from 1389!), zoomed in on a detail with Mooka’s and illustrated this with some little drawings of Flux, both Maria’s and Ricks versions, and of Mooka (the old and the new version).
    I was planning to write next to it: Is this the pattern that started it all?

    To read today’s blog post about exactly this subject makes it very special.

    Karin Derks KasadeCZT on

  • These are fantastic! And I want to eat where you guys do! 😄 Thanks so much for sharing!

    Shawna Oertley on

  • Rick, those sheets are truly magnificent. However, I tjink they are much older than th 17th or 18th centuries. The writing style is Rotunda, a version ofgothic Blackletter, written in Itsly, Spain and southern France, from thev13th to the 16th centuries. By the later date, printed work had overtaken the manuscript. I believe the sheets are pages from a large book. The sheet behind Maria clearly shows a medieval, four line music stave. The size suggests they are pages from either an Antiphoner or a Gradual. Both were similar books, placed on a stand before a choir or a celebrant, to be read at a distance. But I have no Latin, so I am unableto clarify the text. Those lovely capitals are known as Lombardic. Did they originate in Lombardy or were they invented by a chap called Peter Lombard? Mystery! And now I will be pedantic! The caps are not illuminated. No gold has been used. No light is reflected. They are classed as Decorated. That doesn’t sound so grand but it does not detract from their supreme quality. Alan Quincey on Feb 09, 2022.

    Alan Quincey on

  • Thank you Jenn Braydon. Indeed I deconstructed this pattern long ago and named it Sweda. I will mail a stepout to Julie.

    Maria Vennekens on

  • Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful documents! Such wonderful talents! I have been fascinated with calligraphy for years, but it wasn’t until I saw Marie’s beautiful pages from her sketch book in the Lecture that was mentioned before of Rick and Marie at NMAI in Newport, RI that I started looking into illuminated manuscripts. The Book of Kells and the Gospels of Lindisfarne are so AMAZINGLY beautiful!!! What amazing talent and patience. Then I learned of “The Grandes Heures of Jean Duke of Berry” I ordered the copy from the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris by Marcel Thomas. . . It is 12 1/2 inches wide, 17 inches tall, with life size copies of the plates. It is an awe inspiring work of art with birds, angels, leaves of multiple colors, numerous historiated initials per page. . . The Duke wanted it to be the best of the best. It is a one of a kind book.
    If you have shown these pages before, they are worth repeating! I’m surprised they were in a restaurant and not in a museum! Beauty is all around us if we will only open our minds to it.

    LLS on

  • Thank you so much for sharing these beautiful documents! Such wonderful talents! I have been fascinated with calligraphy for years, but it wasn’t until I saw Marie’s beautiful pages from her sketch book in the Lecture that was mentioned before of Rick and Marie at NMAI in Newport, RI that I started looking into illuminated manuscripts. The Book of Kells and the Gospels of Lindisfarne are so AMAZINGLY beautiful!!! What amazing talent and patience. Then I learned of “The Grandes Heures of Jean Duke of Berry” I ordered the copy from the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris by Marcel Thomas. . . It is 12 1/2 inches wide, 17 inches tall, with life size copies of the plates. It is an awe inspiring work of art with birds, angels, leaves of multiple colors, numerous historiated initials per page. . . The Duke wanted it to be the best of the best. It is a one of a kind book.
    If you have shown these pages before, they are worth repeating! I’m surprised they were in a restaurant and not in a museum! Beauty is all around us if we will only open our minds to it.

    LLS on

  • Such precious images and words. . Thank you for putting it all together, your generosity in sharing and bringing it to so many people. 🖌✒️🖊✏️ ❤️💙🤎

    Dixie Stewart on

  • How lovely to see that manuscript with such glorious precise lettering and superb decoration. I too have worked as a professional and teaching Calligrapher for over forty years and when I started with Zentangle back in 2012, I recognised many of the patterns we used as having originated in medieval times. I suspect that the ‘vellum’ it is written on is more likely to be Calfskin, in that time frame. Goat and sheep skins were also used, but were considered a bit ‘second rate’ in comparison. Calfskin is white and creamy and a dream to write on, especially with your own cut quill, like writing on a satin cushion with your fingernail. I spent years and years doing commissions using similar designs and loved every second. I still make handmade books and do some one on one tutoring, but that lovely photo took me back instantly to all those years ago. Now I am almost eighty and I spend my days pouring love into my Zentangle art work, though I still dabble with my Calligraphy skills, it’s like riding a bike, once learnt you never forget how.

    Sue Zanker on

  • These pictures of illuminated manuscript letters are amazing. Thank you for taking them and for sharing them. Tanglers always notice the patterns are everywhere and we can’t keep our eyes on the road for the patterns we see as we drive along..

    Lisa Hoesing on

  • I love seeing and being inspired by the illuminated manuscripts, but also enjoyed reading all the wonderful comments and suggestions in the comments. Yes, Benoit Ferret’s work is amazing too!

    Susan L on

  • To Helen ~ Thanks so much for the link to Benoit Furet’s site/blog. It is well worth a visit as it expanded my thoughts of Zentangle practice. I really like the idea of gilding and am thinking of playing with metallics in my next drawings. His “embellished” capitals are lovely.

    Vivian on

  • Wow! I am inspired. Thank you. And More! Rick, please. I learned italic calligraphy years ago. I’m very drawn to the letters themselves. For now I’m going to get out my Zentangle supplies and play, either a deconstructing this or just for fun.

    Mary Lou Minard on

  • Lovely. Whenever you and Maria refer to the history of Zentangle, I reminisce about that very special and personal adventure as my class (#3) was welcomed into your home as part of our orientation for CZT training. And how many of us bent down to pick up that “tile” off the floor? 😆 LOL

    Tricia, CZT#3 on

  • The intertwining cable like pattern has been deconstructed by Maria Vennekens. She has called it Otto snd it’s on musterquelle.de
    Wonderful finds on these manuscripts. They were tanglers, they just didn’t know it back then! 🤣

    Debbie Raaen on

  • I’ve been fooling around with my didgeridoo this week and those new shapes remind me so much of boomerangs – lying in a row….amazing set of illustrated manuscripts. So many ideas! Thank you!!!

    Mary Ellen Ziegler CZT33 on

  • Wow! This brings the familiar into a centuries old new focus. As always, I’m seeing wonderful organic and architectural patterns everywhere since my eyes have been opened to Zentangle and this reminds me to look and appreciate the smallest details in everything.

    Linda Elkin on

  • Regarding the border tangle… the first thing that came to mind was a hockey stick. Maybe Hoc-key could be a potential tangle name!!

    Linda Hunter, CZT 31 on

  • I’ve been a fan of Benoit Ferret’s work for a while. It’s totally Zentangled calligraphy! https://www.anachropsy.com/blog/index.php?m=12&y=20

    Helen on

  • I can hardly wait to see what you do with the border tangle inside the Q. All of the tangle, potential tangles are beautiful.

    Shelley Miller on

  • Very nice & inspiring.

    Rimona Gale on

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