Inês Correia: "Revelations" of a 13th-century Bible, from archaeological evidence to digital display.

During the middle Ages, the transmission of biblical text takes on a particular meaning in the history of Western culture. The Bible, as result of an intentional execution project - in codex format -, embodies specific cultural identity, witnessing specific contexts of production and use.[ John Sharpe and K. Van Kampen: The Bible as Book - The manuscript tradition. 2002.]

Such evidences, sometimes bared through manuscripts materiality, may be noticed or become accessible during conservation treatments, which might be properly interpreted by interdisciplinary programmes. [J. A. Szirmai: The Archaelogy of Medieval Bookbinding, Hants 2001]. Besides physical and chemical stability, this knowledge should be used to manage the preservation and display of their identity as ceremonial or devotional objects.

We propose to demonstrate through a case study where an archaeological approach was particularly helpful to support the decision-making process during the conservation of three related manuscripts. This relation was sustained by iconographic and codicological similarities revealing the manuscripts to be a whole, which had been taken apart during regal or monastic custody. Mainly because of certain reading practices recommended for The Bible and attending to respective marks left by nuns, each manuscript could be distinguished as an individual sacred object. Simultaneously, production evidences were clear enough to testify to the original existence of a one volume Bible and even to indicate the place of production, unnoticed until now. [Robert Branner: Manuscript painting in Paris during the reign of Saint Louis - A study of styles. London 2005].

The conservation treatment was managed with regard to the greatest benefit for maintaining/improving the individual identity of the parts. Nevertheless, we may share some virtual possibilities to recover a closer result from the original codex, which is materially impossible without great lost. Indeed, considerations can be done about conservation and preservation ‘tools' to make heritage available.