The Functions of illuminated charters from Latvian and Lithuanian archives in a European context
ENIn this paper we present several charters, which were produced or preserved in Latvia and Lithuania in their European context. Our aim is to outline the functionality of the charters, and their representative, performative and commemorative aspects as expressed through their decoration. We also examine the European connections of the parties involved in making the charters, as well as circumstances of the charters’ production and their decorative features. Analyzing the development of decoration in Latvian and Lithuanian charters and comparing their artistic aspects to European material outside the Baltic region will contribute to achieving a fuller understanding of the political, social and cultural landscape in medieval Livonia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and their neighbours. We examine, for instance, a charter preserved in the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania (LNMMB F101-41), signed on 7 July 1590 and drafted in Russian, with signatures in Polish, decorated with elaborately illuminated initials. We reflect on the mutual engagement of the parties in compiling and decorating this and earlier documents and the possible rationale for their artistic decisions. [From the publication]
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