author
D. (David) Laurent de Lara
A 19th-century illuminator who helped bring manuscript decoration into the modern age, he wrote a practical guide that opened this intricate art to new learners. Based in London and born in Amsterdam, he built a reputation around richly ornamented work and energetic self-promotion.
1 Audiobook
Elementary Instruction in the Art of Illuminating and Missal Painting on Vellum A Guide to Modern Illuminators
by D. (David) Laurent de Lara
About the author
David Laurent de Lara was a Dutch-born illuminator, probably born around 1806 in Amsterdam, who later worked in London. Sources describe him as a limner of Spanish descent and as an early figure in treating illumination as a living art rather than just a medieval curiosity.
He became known for decorative manuscript work, including an illuminated Hebrew calendar and almanac, and he exhibited an illuminated chess table for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at the Great Exhibition of 1851. He also published Elementary Instruction in the Art of Illumination, and Missal Painting on Vellum in 1850, a how-to manual that went through multiple editions and helped introduce the craft to a wider audience.
Later accounts suggest he was a gifted promoter as well as a working artist, and some historians have been critical of his artistic skill and business practices. Even so, his name remains closely tied to the 19th-century revival of illumination and to efforts to make the craft accessible to modern amateurs and students.