Jana Dřevíkovská et al: The 11th-century Codex Vyssegradensis from the collection of the National Library in Prague: Investigation and consolidation questions.

The Codex Vyssegradensis is one of the most precious illuminated manuscript from the collection of the National Library in Prague and in terms of conservation is one of the most questionable work of art. This manuscript was created and illuminated for coronation of first Bohemian King Vratislav II., from ca. 1085. Historians usually speak about Codex Vyssegradensis in connection with three other manuscripts, Codex aureus Gnesnensis, Codex Aureus pultoviensis and Evangeliarum from the Prague Castle Archives.

One of the main tasks in the first part of the investigation was the documentation and definition of damages to the Codex, and the preparation of the codex for the exhibition "Open the Gates of Paradise" - The Benedictines in the Heart of Europe 800 - 1300.

The manuscript has been carefully monitored for many years because of the great problems with stability of its full-folio illuminations on parchment. The uniqueness of this codex is its large areas of false brass "gilding". There are serious problems with powdering and local cracking of colors. And simultaneously there is evidence of corrosion in the imitation brass gilding (darkening, color change and presence of green corrosive products). Paint layers containing copper belong to the most reactive, and in this case there is also a certain level of damage to the parchment support. There is a big discussion among conservators as to the possible consolidation of the illuminations of the codex.

The paper will present some results of a non-destructive methods of investigation of the colors, such as infrared photography, False Color Infrared photography, Rentgen Fluorescence Analysis, UV- VIS Spectroscopy and FTIR Spectroscopy.

Authors:

Jana Dřevíkovská, Jana Dernovšková, Martina Ohlídalová, National Library of the Czech Republic