The inspiration of flowers

Submitted by Milica on Thu, 2009-11-12 15:36
Jehan, Giles, and Yseult of the he Royal College and Confraternity of Scribes and Illuminators of the Kingdom of Lochac have created a marvelous website to inspired scribes to use symbolic flowers and plants in their artwork. An Introduction to Floral Symbolism in Manuscript Illumination features illuminated flowers and short descriptions of their symbolic meanings.

Giles de Laval writes:

Many flowers and plants bore symbolic meanings from classical times, no less so in the Middle Ages (although with meanings often adopted and adapted to the needs of Christianity). Even with the rise of literacy and personal devotional reading, these symbols retained their potency as a supplement to the written word, and ready appeal to the medieval child-like delight in equivocation and metaphor is easily seen.