Dalla Genesi di Vienna al Codex Brixianus: analisi non invasive e micro-invasive sui codici purpurei

Analytical chemistry can provide information useful to art historians with concerns to the value of a manuscript and the technology behind its manufacture. In the case of Codex Rossanensis, it is useful to compare the results obtained in the 2013 diagnostic campaign with those arising from the analysis of other coeval purple codices, such as the Vienna Genesis or Codex Vindobonensis (ms. Theol. gr. 31), a 6th century purple codex kept at Österreichische Nationalbibliothek in Vienna. Non-invasive measurements performed in situ allowed obtaining a wide range of information with concern to the pigments and dyes used by the different artists who decorated the manuscript. Of particular interest is the identification of lapis lazuli which is among the oldest evidences of the use of this precious pigment on manuscripts, together with the Codex Rossanensis. Moreover, it is apparent that the purple colour of the parchment was not obtained with the Tyrian purple dye but with orchil or folium.