SCA Calligraphy

This is, and will probably remain, the pinnacle of my attempts at illumination. It's a four-page award for my wife's induction into the Order of the Laurel. The text is based upon a sixteenth-century patent of arms, and then translated into 15th-century Milanese Italian, to suit her persona.

Since her SCA surname is "Visconti", I elected to create it in the style of the Book of Hours commissioned by Giangaleazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan. Click on the image at the left to see larger versions and more explanations of the individual pages.

This is another SCA award I did, based heavily on elements found in the Visconti Hours. The recipient of the award was Sir Severin Visconti di Milano, so as with the above award, I felt that the style was appropriate. Here is a closeup of the illuminated "P".

The letter is an example of an architectural capital, which is a very prevalent style in the Visconti Hours. Here is another example of an architectural capital, taken from the handouts for a class I taught on how to paint them.

At right is a rubricated versal, a decorated initial based on some examples I found in a Spanish or Italian chant manuscript, ca. 1500, in the collection of the Elihu Burritt Library, Central Connecticut State University.

Since pretty much all of the calligraphy and illumination I have done has ended up in other people's hands, I'll try to borrow some of it back in order to scan in some more examples. Until then, I'm afraid that this is all I have on this page.