The Architecture of the Medieval Page (2018)

The word I would use here instead of “architecture” is “composition.” The article reminds me of William Morris who helped transform design into a conscious, deliberate practice.

If you want to see more pages of artwork, check out https://openimages.media. it's a collection from the Ghetty Open Images project that includes 100's of such scribed artwork.

Fascinating - it's interesting that commentary seemed so common in these old texts, and it's cool to see how decorative graphical elements were often "first-class citizens" on the page.

When every codex was a bespoke item, I guess it made more sense. If you're interested in that sort of thing, check out the Book of Kells:

http://codex99.com/typography/37.html

There's also a great animated movie about the relic, called The Secret of Kells.