Owen Jones 1809-74
Plate LXVII (Middle Ages No.2) from The Grammar of Ornament
1856
Chromolithograph
Published by Day & Son
V&A National Art Library: 106.J.22
VADAR: 2006AY6173

Many of the plant forms found in the 'Middle Ages' chapter of The Grammar of Ornament were taken from medieval manuscripts. Jones owned a number of these manuscripts, including the early 15th-century book of psalms shown here which is now held in the V&A's National Art Library.
In Victorian Britain, there was a revival in the medieval craft of illumination. An attempt to reawaken a lost heritage, this revival was dominated by a religious and social agenda. Jones, however, saw medieval manuscripts as a source for new directions in design and colour theory.