Conservation

A matter of conservation 

Given the value of the manuscript, it may seem strange that it has never been properly researched before and that the public has never really seen it. However, the book’s condition simply did not allow this.
The twentieth-century binding was much too tight and had made damaging creases in the parchment. There were also difficulties with the pigments and the abundant use of gold leaf in the illuminations. Thanks to the international research and conservation project to which scientists from Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Great Britain and the United States of America are contributing, these problems are now being addressed. The latest techniques are helping unlock the book’s secrets and revealing Orimina’s extraordinary technical skill. The Anjou Bible will step briefly into the limelight during the exhibition before being returned indefinitely to the library strongroom for safekeeping.

Follow the evolution 

The bible project is not being conducted behind closed doors. All the research findings will be brought together in the art book entitled The Anjou Bible. A Royal Manuscript Revealed. Naples 1340, Peeters Publishers, Leuven. Series: Corpus of Illuminated manuscripts, ed. Lieve Watteeuw and Jan Van der Stock, K.U.Leuven, Leuven. Essays in English by some of the most noted experts describe just how the arts were promoted at the court of Robert of Anjou I and also shed light on the bible’s genesis and on all the research methods and results. The book will contain lots of beautiful illustrations.
The bible’s conservation was also the opportune moment to digitalize it using the latest technologies. From September 17th all the folios of the Anjou Bible will be available digitally, at the exhibition venue and online on this site.

High resolution pictures and zoom functions make it possible to study even the tiniest details in the miniatures. By explaining the context and adding indexes, a direct link is established between illustration and description. This digitalization links up seamlessly with one of the great challenges of the digital era: raising public awareness of a vulnerable part of our cultural heritage.