Page - 53 - in The Vienna Genesis - Material analysis and conservation of a Late Antique illuminated manuscript on purple parchment

Jiří Vnouček, Sarah Fiddyment, Abigail Quandt, Sophie Rabitsch, Matthew Collins, Christa Hofmann 53 is located whose follicle pattern differs from the hairs on the rest of the skin. This is very noticeable when the skin is de-haired during the parchment-making process. Later on, when the skin is stretched and dried on the frame, the area of the belly and axillae can be distinguished more easily. Unlike the rest of the skin where the follicle pattern is removed, the pattern created by this other type of hair is preserved throughout the entire parch- ment-making process. The application of purple dye makes the area of the axillae and belly on the folios of the manuscript even more visible35. The image of the pattern is not sharp 35 After peeling the grain layer of the skin during the preparation of parchment, it is almost impossi- ble to detect any hair follicles or even natural pigmentation of the skin. Fig. 13: Reconnected bifolio 4/5 in normal light (left) and in transmitted light (right). Fig. 14: Scheme of the reconnected bifolios. Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0