Colors of the World at the Morgan Library, Part 2

The second part of the Colors of the World program at the Morgan Library involved grinding the dry materials to make powdered pigment, and then combining them with water (and alum in some cases) to make paint. The kids also used a glue made from the swim bladder of a fish to apply gold leaf to their projects. A fun and illuminating experience!

Mad Monks on the Hudson, aka, the Coynes Illuminated

Mikro, Kev and I were all inspired by Colors of the World, and decided to try our hands at designing an ornate initial (which is the proper term for those large decorated capital letters you see in illuminated manuscripts.) Here are our efforts:

Kev went with a Viking theme:



Mikro went with dragons and such:



I dove into the Hudson (well, not literally...):

Colors of the World at the Pierpont Morgan Library: Part 1

My friend Leah finds the best programs to share with our homeschool group! Colors of the World was the sort of thing I *wish* I had gotten to do when I was Mikro's age. He had the best time and learned so much about medieval illuminated manuscripts and the materials used to produce them, and how they came into European hands via trade along the Silk Route.

The first part of this 2-class program involved looking at some of the manuscripts in the Morgan's collection, talking about the materials and their sources, and viewing a special exhibition on illuminated miniatures (which I was not allowed to photograph-- go see it if you can!) The kids also did a worksheet on the parts of an illuminated manuscript while hanging out in J.P. Morgan's study.

Entry and the Rotunda:













In the Library: learning about parchment/vellum; looking at examples of illuminated manuscripts; checking out what came next, with technology: the Gutenberg Bible; looking for the hidden staircase.





































I could cheerfully spend my afterlife haunting this place! A bibliophile's dream!

Special exhibit and learning about materials:











In J.P. Morgan's study:











The vault: I love that the valuables inside are *books*!





And outside, playing after class: