The Gospel Book through a touchscreen: the precious manuscript in high definition

Digital makes theEvangeliary, the precious Byzantine manuscript in Siena’s Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati , browsable. And, through a touchscreen, it is possible to start its consultation. This is the fruit of a joint project carried out by the Biblioteca Comunale degli Intronati and Santa Maria della Scala in Siena, which saw the realization of a complete digitization and a high-resolution photographic campaign, conducted respectively by the Intronati Municipal Library’s Photo Reproduction Laboratory and Haltadefinizione, a tech company of the Franco Cosimo Panini publishing house specializing in the digitization of paintings, documents and ancient manuscripts, in collaboration with technology partner Memooria.

The so-called Evangeliary, which is properly to be considered a lectionary, since it contains the lectiones taken from the four Gospels, to be read during liturgical celebrations of the Byzantine rite for the entire year, represents, as far as the binding is concerned, a magnificent testimony to Byzantine and Venetian art. The cover, made of gilded silver, on which numerous reused cloisonné enamels are fixed, is a work of goldsmithing that can be placed chronologically between the second half of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th; the Byzantine enamel plates date from different periods and can be dated between the late 10th century and the 13th century. The parchment compage is richly illuminated with four full-page figures on a gold background depicting the evangelists seated before the desk, on which the working tools are placed. The text’s illustrative apparatus also features a wide variety of anthropomorphic, plant and zoomorphic illuminated initials executed with remarkable care and refinement.

The history of theGospel Book

It was 1359 when the Spedale Santa Maria della Scala came into possession of the precious Evangeliary together with a group of relics from the imperial treasure of Constantinople, thanks to a negotiation conducted in Venice by Friar Andrea di Grazia, emissary of the Sienese hospital, and the Florentine merchant Pietro di Giunta Torrigiani. In a deed drawn up in Venice on May 28, Torrigiani, who had obtained the relics in 1357 in the Byzantine metropolis, “donated,” in fact, the sacred objects to the hospital for a value of 3,000 gold florins, in exchange for an annuity and the availability of a house. In 1786, at the behest of Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo, the codex (datable to the second half of the 11th century) passed to the Biblioteca della Sapienza, now the Biblioteca comunale degli Intronati, and since then it has belonged to the manuscripts collection, identified with the shelfmark “X.IV.1.”

In 1996, after a long phase of restoration at the Laurentian Library for the parchment part and at the Opificio delle pietre dure for the binding, thework was reunited with the rest of the relics on the occasion of the exhibition L’oro di Siena, in the museum complex Santa Maria della Scala, where, by virtue of a long-term loan granted by the Library, it is still preserved. Here, thanks to the digitization campaign, from December 16, it will be the subject of a new display that will see it accompanied by a multimedia apparatus, such as to make it usable in its entirety, also by virtue of the use of gigapixel+3D technology. It will be possible, in fact, thanks to an interactive multimedia station, to virtually and integrally browse through the volume, navigate and zoom within the images discovering the details of the extraordinary decorative apparatus.

Given the particular delicacy and importance of the manuscript, all digitization operations were conducted on site, where in-house staff also made a complete copy of the internal papers that make up the codex. In addition, three-dimensional acquisition of the richly decorated blanket made it possible to accurately map all the shapes of the object, faithfully respecting the rendering of colors, tones, details, geometry, sharpness and illumination of the surface. The creation of the virtual copy, made possible thanks to funding from Gruppo Acea S.p.a., will allow visitors to immerse themselves in and enjoy the manuscript in a new way through the use of museum enhancement tools designed to engage and enrich the visit more.

The new exhibit at Santa Maria della Scala will be unveiled on Thursday, Dec. 16, at 10:30 a.m.

Information: museum complex Santa Maria della Scala piazza del Duomo, 1 - Siena infoscala@comune.siena.it www.santamariadellascala.com

The Gospel Book through a touchscreen: the precious manuscript in high definition

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