Gold tooling

Artists' Techniques

Lines and dots were incised in the highly burnished gold background of many illuminations, from the full-page Crucifixion to the small Calendar initials. In the Crucifixion, the tooling accentuates the form of the cross and embellishes the halos of the richly painted figures. The embossing visible on the surface is, however, an unintended consequence of applying punched motifs to the burnished gold Beatus initial on the reverse of the leaf.