The magnificent knotted patterns of early Irish manuscripts, the ornate capitals found in medieval bibles and the gilded versals of Renaissance hands are all illuminated - literally, "put to light"- letters. In its highest form of artistry, an illumination is an exquisite miniature enclosed in the bowl of a letter, a colourful display of vines filling the page of a breviary or the stately procession of heraldic figures that highlight royal proclamations.

While the calligraphers & illuminators of old went about their own separate business, today's illuminator must possess at once good command of pen, brush and burnisher!

As an example, here is a commissioned document written & illuminated on calfskin parchment to celebrate the treaty that was passed in 2000 between the Huron-wendat nation of Quebec and the Federal Indian Affairs.

The heading features a simple form of illumination: large, red (or rubricated) letters transected by a thread of shell gold. By contrast, the complex figures of the Huron-wendat emblem and the Canadian Coat-of-Arms required the use of a wide range of tools and materials (ink, gold leaf, shell gold, gesso, gum ammoniac, gouache, egg tempera, brushes & burnishers) along with precise gilding and colouring techniques.