Usually, when people hear the term “illuminated manuscript,” they think of enormous, leather-bound books, produced painstakingly by the hands of medieval European monks, and filled to the brim with beautiful, occasionally absurd illustrations.

This image is only half correct. In truth, the production of illuminated manuscripts was limited neither to the monasteries of Europe nor to the Middle Ages. The term, which actually refers to the decorative use of gold or silver, has been used to describe manuscripts that were put together as early as the 4th century B.C.E. Nowadays, it also describes artifacts from all over the world, from the Middle East—which had a highly literary culture and bookmaking traditions that were a major influence on manuscript production in medieval Europe—to Africa and Mesoamerica.

Regardless of when and where they came into existence, illuminated manuscripts were considered status symbols first and reading material second. Made to be admired on special occasions rather than handled at regular intervals, they moved from one private collection to another. Thanks to their high value, many have not just survived, but remain in excellent condition. Here are just five examples that stand out for their artistry, craftsmanship, and historical significance.

Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry

Picking grapes at the Chateau de Samur, September in the calendar section of the Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, tempera on vellum. Photo: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.

The illuminated manuscript with the longest and most convoluted name may also be the most impressive. Frequently referred to as the single most famous medieval manuscript in the entire world, not to mention the “Mona Lisa of manuscripts,” the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry—or Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry, in English—was, as its name suggests, made especially for Jean I, Duke of Berry and brother of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.

Made around 1411, the manuscript’s 121 illuminations—organized around the months of the year and their corresponding astrological signs—are attributed to the Limbourg brothers, a trio of siblings from the Dutch city of Nijmegen who frequently lent their services to the courts of both Berry and Burgundy, ruled at the time by John the Fearless. After Jean I and the brothers passed away in 1416 as the result of a major plague outbreak, work on the then-unfinished manuscript was continued by a variety of other, equally well-known artists, including Barthélemy d’Eyck, a possible relation of the famed Flemish painter Jan van Eyck.

Due to its fragility, the manuscript was rarely displayed to the public. Its most recent appearance, in the fall of 2025, showed off the progress of an ongoing conservation project that began in 2023, when the Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France at the Louvre set out to examine and restore the manuscript’s most heavily deteriorated sections.

The Book of Kells

Page from the Book of Kells. Photo: Universal History Archive via Getty Images.

The Book of Kells is thought to have been created around 800 C.E. by the monks of Iona Abbey, a monastery on a Scottish island founded several centuries earlier by Saint Columba. Columba is credited for spreading Christianity to Scotland and Ireland, and his abbey attracted pilgrims from all over the British isles.

Named after another monastery in the Irish city of Kells, where it was moved after Vikings raided Iona, the Book of Kells contains the Four Gospels of the New Testament. Its script—unique to medieval Ireland and known to scholars as “Insular majuscule”—is accompanied by animal illustrations symbolizing different aspects of Christ’s divine nature, with snakes representing resurrection and peacocks signifying immortality.

Like most other illuminated manuscripts from medieval Europe, the Book of Kells, kept at Trinity College Dublin since 1661, is made from processed animal skin, and lots of it. The manuscript’s 340 vellum (leather) leaves, measuring 13 by 10 inches, are thought to have required the hides of some 185 calves. And yes, they had to be calves, as their hides yielded the finest, smoothest writing surface.

The Golden Haggadah

Four scenes from the Old Testament, including men building Pharoah’s cities, the bondage of the Israelites, the plague of blood, and Aaron’s snake. Photo: Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images.

Like many illuminated manuscripts, the Golden Haggadah contains several different documents bound by a single cover. The largest and most important of these, as its name suggests, is a copy of the Haggadah, a Hebrew service-book read during Passover that contains prayers, songs, and stories from the Book of Exodus. In the Golden Haggadah, these are accompanied by full-page illustrations in a French Gothic style depicting scenes of the Jewish people’s liberation from slavery in Egypt, set against gold-tooled backgrounds.

Historians suspect that the Golden Haggadah was made near Barcelona around 1320. After Spanish King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I signed the 1492 Alhambra Decree, which forced Jewish subjects of the crown to choose between exile or conversion to Catholicism, the manuscript was taken to Italy. There, it eventually ended up in the ownership of Joav Gallico, Rabbi of Mantua, who had his family’s coat of arms printed on the opening page.

The Crusader Bible

Old Testament miniatures with Latin, Persian, and Judeo-Persian inscriptions showing Abraham’s Vengeance, A Blessing, and The Corruption of the Sodomites. Photo: Morgan Library & Museum, New York.

Also known as the Morgan Bible, Maciejowski Bible, and Shah ‘Abbas Bible, the Crusader Bible is one of the largest French Gothic manuscripts in existence. A jewel of the collection of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York, it contains more than 380 illustrations depicting scenes from the Old Testament—with a historical twist. Possibly to appeal to a contemporary audience, the anonymous artists (seven in total) decided to dress their ancient subject matter in medieval French clothing, populating their renditions of the Creation and the reign of King David with medieval knights and castles.

The Crusader Bible was likely produced in Paris between 1240 and 1250 for King Louis IX, who set off on the Seventh Crusade (his first) in 1248. As discussed in an article by American Magazine, the manuscript’s creation seems to have served two purposes: “to bolster contemporary French royal authority as sacred and to justify violence as sanctioned by God.” After the king’s death in 1270, it traveled the world, from Italy to Poland, Iran, Egypt, and England, before ending up in the United States. Along the way, the originally unannotated document picked up inscriptions in a variety of languages, including Latin, Persian, and Hebrew.

Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp

Rustam Slays Isfandiyar, Folio 466r from the Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Shah Tahmasp (c. 1525–30) , by the artist Qasim ibn ‘Ali. Photo: Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images.

The Shahnameh—Persian for “Book of Kings”—is a 50,000 couplet epic poem narrating the history of Persia from its quasi-legendary origins to the Arab conquest of 651 C.E. Composed around 1010 by the poet Abu’l Qasim Firdausi in dedication to Mahmud of Ghazni, its impact on Iranian high society was such that it became custom for subsequent generations of rulers to commission illuminated copies of the original.

By far the most richly detailed of these was the Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp, which features 258 paintings spread across 759 folios of Nasta’liq calligraphic script. While its origin is subject to debate–some scholars claim production began not under Shah Tahmasp, but his father Isma‘il, in the 1520s—its creators, including Mir Musavvir, Aqa Mirak, and Sultan Muhammad, have long been identified. A seminal work of Persian art that combined and revolutionized a variety of regional styles, the manuscript has since been broken apart: one of the single largest shareholders, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, has 78 pages.