Calligraphy Love Musings

The etsy-seller Sarah Chase Dessler is selling an illustrated qoute from  1st Corinthians about love. It's neat craftmanship and could be a sweet wedding present or may be used for the invitations.

I don't know if she does custom work for invitations and so, but it can't hurt to ask. Calligraphy can be so elegant and altough with some patience you can do it yourself, someone with experience might do the job more satisfactory. But swing by her shop and see for yourself.
I am also very envious of her marvelous working space:

Medieval Seating Chart / Map

I made a seating chart so that the guests wont have to search all the tables to find their name card. As each of the 6 tables will be represented by an animal I drew 6 scrollshaped papers with the animals above. As if the guests have to find their way to a fortress, forest or mountain I sketched a map behind the scrolls with land and sea, mermaids and rivers:

Even though I have borrowed several elements from medieval maps I should probably tell you that the map I made only faintly resembles some of the known medieval maps. In medieval time the maps were far from acurate and some where even only conceptual. Most of the maps I was able to find actually dates to the earliest years of the renaissance (from a South European point of view).

There were a difference between the maps supposed to be used for navigation and maps simply made for the artistic purpurses. Others were plastered with religious symbols, like angels.
The so called wheel or T maps weren't accurate. They portraid the world as divided in 3, Asia, Africa and Europe. Jerusalem was at the center of the world and as you can see Asia and Arabia are drawn like they are the northern part of the world. If you twist your head to the left you get a "normal" idea of the world.

Nordic map from around 1300.

Maps are known all the way back to the roman empire and as the medieval and renaissance explorers traveled the world the maps became more detailed.
Here you can see the Danish peninsula Jutland and how it develops in the maps:

Ptolemaius 200 AD

Nicolaus Donis 1482 AD

Olaus Magnus 1539 AD

The arrival of book printing technic in the 1400's in Europe was of great importance to the the map production. First they used wood to make and duplicate maps and later they were etched in cobber. The details of the late medieval maps are amasing, and it's those maps who inspired my seating chart:

Seamonster detail from map by Jacob Ziegler, 1532

1300's Matthew Paris



1492, same year as Columbus discovered America. It's part of a world map by Martin Behaim. I love this one, with the heraldic flags and little details like the ship to the left.

Most of the maps were very colorful, so it's a little sad that I couldn't find more of those, but you will have to go hunting yourself if you want the inspiration. The last map also gave me some good ideas, I like the mountains and the little cities.

1491, Nicolaus Cusanus - Northern Germany and Denmark

I have a little fettish with medieval maps and you can use these to inspire DIY projects, like invitaitons, road directions and seating charts. Enjoy :-)

Woodcuts - inspiration and decoration

Woodcuts was a way in the Middle Ages to make a picture that could be easily copied and they fill the pages of books of the period. If you are to make an invitation or a program the woodcuts could be a mean to make them look really cool and authentic. I have already used a couple of them for my program and it really sets the scene for the day.

It can be difficult to find what you are looking for but you can always google them. Otherwise there's this site: GoodCookery that has a very fine collection of woodcuts from books. Amongst these are this classical depiction of a medieval marriage:

Spiegel des menschlichen Lebens, 1475-76

 I loved it so much I used it both in the program and the save-the-dates. I already posted the std's but I'll show you them again along with the back and front of my programs:

The STDs

If you find these illustraions beautiful it's just a matter of getting started. To finish this entry op here's a few woodcuts from the GoodCookery collection:

 

1480

1505



Medieval contemporary wedding art 15th century

Italy is the cradle of renaissance and the medieval times ends earlier than in Denmark. Still I wanted to show you this painting of a newly-wed couple. I think her dress is fantastic. 

Jan van Eyck, “The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami,” 1434

In the middle ages the bible was often used as an inspiration for art and a famous biblical wedding picture is the "marriage feast of Cana" by Hieronymus Bosch (1453 - 1516). This is the feast where Jesus turned water into wine, but the people and the background are inspired by a medieval wedding. You might get inspired to decorate your location by this. For example: the swan being carried in. Birds were served with feathers and all to make it look majestic. Sometimes they would even dress a roast chicken in peacock feathers.

"Marriage feast of Cana" by Hieronymus Bosch (1453 - 1516).

The women are portrayed very chaste in this picture and you might have noticed that the only woman with her hair showing is the bride. I love the tapestry in the background to the right. Something similar might inspire the look of the invitations? Or notice the benches that they are sitting on. Our guests will be seated on benches as well.
I hope you enjoy these small entries :)

Medieval contemporary wedding art 1300

I thought you might like to see a couple of pictures from the middle ages featuring a wedding. This can be helpful to get an idea of the clothing, and just how weddings were protrayed at the time. :)


By: Nicolo da Bologna
'The Marriage'
1350's

This is a beautiful and festive illustration from a medieval manuscript. There are musicians, and maybe the bride's father/ a priest. The groom is placing a golden ring on her finger and the ladies and men have gathered to celebrate the couple. Notice the very strong colors of the clothes, the bridal crown and the bride's dress. Although it isn't a white dress, she still stands out.



Here a detail from the manuscript, a small picture named "The Kiss".

From Italiy or France in 1320,
From a manuskript comissioned by Kardinal Jacopo Stefaneschi.
The blessing of the couple's union.

I've got more of these but they are from a later century, so you will get those in another entry :)