Quite often you can meet the word "illumination" in a conversation. This term came to Russian from Latin (illuminato) and in translation means "illumination". This word is used as a designation for the lighting of various objects, such as streets, buildings, interiors and landscapes. About what "illumination" is, and its types will be described in the article.
Word in dictionary
Before we begin to study what illumination is, let's turn to the explanatory dictionary.
It says that this is bright lighting (including decorative) of various objects. Quite often, illumination is used to decorate the landscape and interior spaces during various solemn events.
Also used with special sound effects and fireworks. Currently, it is used in advertising banners and special electronic displays, while it carries any information. During various holidays, such as the New Year, the streets of the city are decoratedlight garlands, illuminating them.
Also "Illumination" is the name of a Soviet reactive portable lighting system used by anti-tank artillery units.
The word “illumination” is related to the one being studied. This is the name of one of the techniques (methods) for decorating with ornaments and various drawings of handwritten books in the Middle Ages.
History
Considering what "illumination" is in the first sense, one should turn to history. This is a long-standing phenomenon, since its development in Russia falls on the period of the reign of Catherine I. At that time, to illuminate a large area near the palace, during some kind of celebration, barrels were placed and set on fire.
Barrels were filled with brushwood or straw, resin was also added. Lanterns, bowls and scales were used for illumination. Basically, wax or paraffin candles were used for lighting in those days. Large numbers of large windows were made in houses for better illumination.
Later, gas lamps appeared, and later electric light sources began to be widely used. Currently, in addition to incandescent lamps, electric-saving and LED lamps are used.
The latter are becoming increasingly popular due to their characteristics. They consume little electricity, while at the output they give a lot of illumination. The photo of illumination by LED lamps shows their brightness, which is significantly better than conventional incandescent lamps.
Lightinginstallation
Studying what "illumination" is, it is necessary to mention a special lighting installation. In the mid-80s, in order to provide the best illumination for anti-tank artillery units during combat missions, the 9K510 installation was created.
It is a Grad-type launcher and a remote control with which the launch can be controlled remotely. The system is equipped with special 122 mm lighting projectiles. Just one fired projectile illuminates an area with a radius of about 500 meters for 90 seconds. The installation can be controlled by a calculation of two fighters. This portable rocket system has become widespread and is currently used in the Russian army. The Illumination installation is also exported to other countries.
Decoration technique
Studying the meaning of the word "illumination", you need to take a closer look at the second understanding of the term. It's about the word "illumination". It is important not to confuse these concepts. In the second sense, this is an artistic technique for decorating handwritten books, which was widespread in what is now Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
At the time, every book was given a lot of attention, as the entire process of creation was manual. After the main text was applied to the sheet, it was decorated with ornaments and miniature drawings. Quite often the very first letter on the page was illuminated. Such manuscripts are often called"Facial".
A colorful and bright ornament and drawing was applied along the edges of the sheet, coinciding in meaning with the text. To create illuminated books, natural pigments were used, including gold and silver powder, which made the drawing especially beautiful and shiny. This technique is one of the most difficult due to the fact that it is used on a small area, and often on a miniature scale.
As follows from the above, "illumination" is a multi-valued term, but the main association that is associated with it is lighting. However, as we can see, this is only one of the meanings of this term.
