Available this November 6 to 8^th

in the  

at the ULUS miniaturas stand.

  LIMITED ONE PIECE EDITION

1’’ Scale diorama from the room of a

   A scriptorium is commonly a large room set apart in a monastery for the use of the scribes or copyists of the community. When no special room was devoted to this purpose, separate little cells or studies called “carrels” were usually made in the cloister, each scribe having a window and desk to himself.

   The scriptorium was under the care of the precentor or else of one  of  his assistants called armarius, whose duty it was to provide all the requisites needed by the scribes, such as desks, ink, parchment, pens, pen-knives, pumice stone for smoothing down the surface of the parchment, awls to make the guiding marks for ruling lines, reading-frames for the books to be copied, etc.

   Various names were in use to distinguish the different classes of writers. In monasteries the term antiquiarii was sometimes used for those monks who copied books. If a scribe excelled in painting miniatures or initial letters he usually confined himself to such work, and was called illuminator.

   FORNITURE: Walnut wood.

   BOOKS: Leather and paper.

   STOOL: Walnut wood and leather seat.

   WALLS: Plaster rustic finished.  

   FLOOR: Wood strips and metal nails.

   DOOR: Wood, nails and hinches in metal.

   MADONNA WITH CHILD PAINTING: Authentic hand painted oil paint and wood frame with meal ornaments.

   STAINED GLASS WINDOW: Hand painted with “Prismacolor” colour pencils, printed in transparent film.

      ACCESSORIES:

   TOOLS IN THE DRAWER: Metal and wood handles.

   POTS AND VASES: Metal, glass, ceramic and mortar handle in wood.

   CANDLE STICK: Winched aluminium

   CANDLE: Modelled epoxic clay wax drops.

   RAT: Epoxic clay sculpture, casted in resin and totally hand painted with oil paint.

   The antiquarii (copyist monks) used diverse tools and accessories: Duck feathers to write, they were cut with curve knives designed only for this, a silver awl to draw the guide marks, ornaments and capitular letters, bone paper knives to smooth and fold the leather, paper or parchment, pattern wheels with diverse forms used for ornament or guide also they had in their desks pigments to be diluted con oil, alcohol or water which they pressed by hand in mortars, a desk designed to store thinners, leather, parchment and other tools used to prepare adhesives and pigments, also to place the books destined for copying.

   The metal guides over the books for copying where used to hold the desired page in place and mark the next line, it had also a counterweight on the back.