For a fantasy story I am writing, I've been reading up on the gemstone Lapis lazuli and came across a story in ChemistryWorld— Blue teeth reveal medieval nun's artistic talent. Yippee! The archeological discovery of a particle of ultramarine pigment in the nun's dental tartar offered material proof that nuns worked as illuminators by at least the late Middle Ages. The finding is also covered in Harvard Magazine's Manuscripts Illuminated…by Women. It's of no use to me for my story, but, oh, what about in future?!?
The woman shown in the illustration, Marie de France, was not an illuminator. She was a poet who lived in England in the 12th C. The image is from a book review in Smithsonian, The Unheralded Women Scribes Who Brought Medieval Manuscripts to Life. No lapis in the teeth, but lots of information.
Image via Wikipedia Commons.