The sixth, seventh, and eighth grades have created illuminated letters inspired by traditional Medieval designs for this year’s “Royal Dining Hall.” Each year a different theme is chosen to adorn the walls, and students spend the end of the year designing and coloring extensive and intricate projects. Illumination originated in the 400s, when monks would decorate the manuscripts they would spend hours copying with elaborate drawings and details. Frequently, the first letter of a block of type would be “illuminated” and made to stand out larger than the rest. The illustrations would often portray the subjects and themes in the stories. The beauty of those early manuscripts is still admired by historians and artists today, and our students’ work is no exception. The students each chose a letter and thoughtfully picked a font to render it in. They then used Medieval imagery to decorate it by either wrapping ribbons, vines, or snakes around it, laying dragons, princesses, or swords atop it, or creating the letter itself entirely out of objects. They then decorated a frame with related subject matter and carefully colored everything in with markers.

Click here to view their extraordinary designs!