AN INVESTIGATION OF THE PALETTE AND TECHNIQUES OF SOME HIGH MEDIEVAL CODICES BY RAMAN MICROSCOPY

A non-destructive investigation of inks and pigments usedin late antiquity and in medieval codices has been undertaken.By comparing the results obtained on inkpots fromPompeii and from codices of various age, the use of metalgall inks appears to have been restricted to the periodbetween the 1st and 4th centuries AD. A change in the useof pigments has been observed between the 9th and 12thcentury in the production of the Scriptorium of Nonantola(Italy). The increased wealth of the abbey could account forthe use of expensive materials in the illuminations of theparchments.