Topic 2 - Illuminated Manuscripts and Art - 25th March

The images found in illuminated manuscripts included; illustrations (referred to as miniatures) which could be small within the text or full paged, ornate initial letters, borders and margin decorations. 

The images in illuminated manuscripts were often used to; highlight something relevant in the text, spark an interest in illiterate readers, as an act of worship in gospel books, to aid scientific and medical books, to mark status, to indicate the start of of a chapter, paragraph or sentence, or simply as a decorative element.

I believe that in order to decide whether or not these decorations are classed as art, art has to first be defined.
Art to me is an expression or representation of something that comes from an artist, whether it be an idea, emotion, belief etc. I believe that art can be created in any form as long as it pleases, causes an audience to question, or sparks an emotion - basically has some kind of effect on an audience. 
I think that even though something may not be intended to be viewed as art, it can still be appreciated from an art perspective. 

After coming up with my own definition I decided to compare it with the dictionary definition.
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines art as; skill acquired by experience, study, or observation,the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects
It's a very broad definition. I think my definition better defines art as art rather than a profession.

As for Illuminated Manuscripts, I think that they can be classified as art. The designs and illustrations within the manuscripts fit within my definition of what art is. The fact that we can look at how these books were made and feel for the creators, and the time took to make them as well as look at decorations and feel pleased with what we see, definitely means that it has an effect on us.

So in believing that illuminated manuscripts are works of art, it then needs to be decided who is the artist? and who is responsible for the finished product?
There are many people involved in the making of the illuminated manuscripts but i think that the actual artists of the final product are the scribes and the illuminators. I think that without them the manuscripts would just be empty books. Even though the artworks or their placing were not decided by the illuminator, and the illustrations were just copies, I still think that the skill involved in creating the illustrations makes the illuminator worthy of being called an artist.