Seite - 164 - in The Vienna Genesis - Material analysis and conservation of a Late Antique illuminated manuscript on purple parchment
Bild der Seite - 164 -
Text der Seite - 164 -
164 Alteration study of silver inks on parchment
additives, as it contains copper in the form of copper(I)oxide (Cu2O, copper hair), as well
as sodium chloride (NaCl). Ox gall was added in the function of a binder. This recipe was
chosen in order to investigate, if the influence of NaCl as a component of the ink itself was
comparable with the impact of sodium chloride from the surrounding atmosphere.
To prepare the silver powder, 112 mg of silver leaves were ground in a marble mortar,
using 31.2 mg of uniodised NaCl in total20 as a grinding aid. After one hour of grind-
ing, the fine silver powder was washed three times with 200 ml of a solution of NaCl in
water21 and then dried using a water bath22. The dry powdered silver was then mixed with
4.981 mg of Cu2O and five drops of ox gall
23. The ink wrote smoothly but smeared a bit
during the burnishing with the agate polishing stone. When the ink was freshly applied
to the purple parchment, it showed a red cast but appeared more yellowish after drying
(Fig. 9).
Reference ink ST2
In order to produce ST2, recipe MC LXXXXII d (variation I, 1, 2; model 112, 113)24 by
Trost was used. The ink recipe originates from the Mappae Clavicula and thus can be
dated to the end of the 12th century. The reference ink is categorised as a pure silver ink.
20 The amount of the grinding aid recommended by Trost had to be increased during the grinding
process, since the recommended 11.2 mg of sodium chloride were already finely ground after a few
minutes. Therefore, another 20 mg of sodium chloride were added step by step. Furthermore, 12
drops of a saturated solution of sodium chloride had to be added as a lubricant.
21 500 mg of sodium chloride were diluted in 200 ml of tap water.
22 In the case of this recipe a drying step was not included by Trost. The authors dried the silver
anyway, as it would have contained to much liquid for further processing.
23 The amount of ox gall had to be increased from two drops (as it was recommended in the recipe),
since the ink would have been too pastry to use it for writing otherwise.
24 Trost, 1991, p. 215. Fig. 9: ST1_A; the left sample is
made using the Glaser
parchment, while the
right sample is made with
the Late Antique parch-
ment by Jiří Vnouček.
Open-Access-Publikation im Sinne der CC-Lizenz BY 4.0
The Vienna Genesis
Material analysis and conservation of a Late Antique illuminated manuscript on purple parchment
- Titel
- The Vienna Genesis
- Untertitel
- Material analysis and conservation of a Late Antique illuminated manuscript on purple parchment
- Herausgeber
- Christa Hofmann
- Verlag
- Böhlau Verlag
- Ort
- Wien
- Datum
- 2020
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-205-21058-0
- Abmessungen
- 17.3 x 24.5 cm
- Seiten
- 348