Page - 123 - in The Vienna Genesis - Material analysis and conservation of a Late Antique illuminated manuscript on purple parchment

Rabitsch, Malissa, Hradil, Erlach, Uhlir, Griesser, Hofmann 123 All folios except folio 16 show four pricking marks shaped like small slits or, in rare cases, round holes in the corners of the text block (Fig. 2). Some folios show one additional mark in the middle of the lower edges as well. Impressed horizontal ruling lines, a few times with pricking marks along the margins, are visible on most folios (Fig. 3), except folios 4 and 5. There are also vertical impressed lines that define the margin of the text block (Fig. 4), present on all fo- lios except folios 1, 4 and 5. The ruling has not been carried out consistently and differs from side to side and from quire to quire. According to Otto Mazal25, there are seven different ruling schemes, which could be confirmed during the observations within the Vienna Genesis project26 (Fig. 5 a and b). The use of different schemes is rather unusual, according to Otto Kresten27. The matching ruling lines on the bi- folios indicate that the lines were continued across the centrefold (Fig. 6). In case of some reattached bifolios, it is possible that the basic design of the il- lumination and its sketch was made on the opened 25 Mazal. 1980, pp. 28–31. 26 Only on folios 2 and 3 Mazal was mistaken regarding the number of vertical lines. He assumed two lines at the inner margin, but there is only one. 27 Personal communication, Prof. Otto Kresten, Academy of Science, 22 February 2017. Fig. 3: Details of a) impressed ruling lines, folio 7, page 13, b) impressed ruling lines with pricking marks in transmitted light, folio 3, page 5. Fig. 4: Detail of vertical impressed lines, folio 12, page 23. Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0