Page - 14 - in The Vienna Genesis - Material analysis and conservation of a Late Antique illuminated manuscript on purple parchment

14 The history of the Vienna Genesis and former interventions since 1664 1776 also contained reproductions of the miniatures in prints by Anton Schlechter9. When Napoleon I. occupied Vienna, he had many art works transferred to France, among them manuscripts and rare books from the Court Library. When in 1813 a similar danger was imminent, the Vienna Genesis was brought to Hungary in order to prevent it from being seized by Napoleonic troops10. Valuable objects of the library were shown to interested visitors from the 17th century onward. In their travel reports Johann David Köhler11, Heinrich Sandner12 and Franz Hein- rich Böckh13 mention that they saw a purple codex in the court library. The German art historian Gustav Friedrich Waagen had the rare opportunity to see and study the codex in 1839. Waagen describes the Vienna Genesis in his book on art monuments in Vienna14 and comments on the condition: 9 Mazal, 1980, p. 193. 10 Mazal, 1980, p. 193. 11 Köhler, 1762, pp. 20 and 27. 12 Sanders, 1784, p. 505. 13 Böckh, 1823, p. 100. 14 Waagen, 1867, pp. 5–8. Fig.2: Folio 1, page 1, detail with library code by Lambeck. Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0