Page - 44 - in The Vienna Genesis - Material analysis and conservation of a Late Antique illuminated manuscript on purple parchment

44 The parchment of the Vienna Genesis: characteristics and manufacture The thickness of Late Antique parchment is established during the wet part of the pro- cess and cannot be corrected once the parchment has dried out, as any type of abrasives used to thin the skin would spoil its fine and smooth surface texture. Pouncing of the sur- face is not a normal part of the manufacturing process but scribes could apply the pounce later, while preparing natural coloured parchment for writing. Evidence of pouncing was found, for example, in the 4th century Codex Sinaiticus25. A consistent thickness of parch- ment for the text blocks of Late Antique manuscripts could only be achieved by the careful selection of skins from the same breed of sheep that were slaughtered at approximately the same age. This means that animals from the same herd were likely used. In medieval manuscripts produced from the 8th century onwards parchment that is made from animals of different ages and breeds can often be found. The thickness of Late Antique parchment usually ranges from about 0.070 to 0.170 mm. In certain locations of the skin the parch- 25 Mumford, 2008, pp. 153–171. Fig. 5: Thickness meas- urement points, folio 18, page 35. Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0