Interdisciplinary Methods and Tools for the Study of Manuscript Monuments
Advanced non-invasive technologies, philological analysis and digital methods for revealing, studying and preserving manuscript cultural heritage.
New Knowledge about Manuscript Heritage
The project brings together the humanities, natural sciences and computer science in a shared methodology for studying complex manuscript monuments.
In the modern era, the interdisciplinary approach has become an increasingly important means of breathing new life into fields of research that were long constrained by classical methodology. This is particularly true of the humanities, where digitisation and digital databases have transformed traditional cultural institutions and made the heritage they preserve more accessible for use and research.
Over the past decade, cooperation between the humanities — including philology, art history, conservation and restoration — and specialists in the natural and computer sciences has developed significantly. Information technology and modern methods of research and analysis enable a large part of the available tools and analytical expertise to be applied to the in situ study of manuscript heritage.
This framework offers a new perspective on the philological study of damaged or poorly preserved parchment codices, palimpsests containing two or more manuscript layers, and manuscripts with numerous images. The analysis of inks, pigments, binders and the material support, combined with chemical and multispectral examination, helps verify historical and textual authenticity, improve dating and establish more precise classifications. The ultimate objective is to compare the results of the different interdisciplinary analyses, identify correlations between them and generate new knowledge about both familiar and newly studied objects.
Background
Digitisation and advances in scientific instrumentation create the conditions for a new type of research into written heritage.
Relevance
Non-invasive methods enable valuable and fragile objects to be analysed without endangering their physical integrity.
Challenges
Erased textual layers, damaged parchment and the complex composition of inks and pigments require an integrated approach.
Objective
To compare data from philological, imaging and material analyses in order to obtain reliable new knowledge.
Expected Results
A methodology, digital resources, more accurate dating and classification, and a sustainable model for future research.
One Object — Multiple Perspectives
Combining different areas of scientific expertise enables the text, image and material structure of a manuscript to be studied together.
Decipherment, textual analysis and interpretation.
Multispectral imaging and image enhancement.
XRF, rFTIR and Raman analysis of inks and pigments.
Digital processing, databases and comparison of results.
The Centre of Image and Material Analysis in Cultural Heritage
CIMA is an interuniversity research centre in Vienna with a unique interdisciplinary profile in cultural heritage research.
About CIMA
The Centre of Image and Material Analysis in Cultural Heritage (CIMA) is an interuniversity research institution established at the beginning of 2014 within the HRSM project “Analysis and Conservation of Cultural Heritage – Modern Imaging and Material Analysis Methods for the Visualization, Documentation and Classification of Historical Written Material (Manuscripts)”. Specialised in imaging, image enhancement and analysis, as well as the non-invasive chemical analysis of materials used in historical objects, CIMA represents a unique interdisciplinary facility for the investigation of cultural heritage.
The Centre brought together expertise from several Viennese universities: Philology at the University of Vienna, Computer Science at Vienna University of Technology, Chemistry and Material Science at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and Restoration and Conservation at Danube University Krems. Its foundation prolonged and intensified an established cooperation through a central laboratory serving universities, libraries, museums and exhibitions.
Manuscripts and expertise
CIMA currently focuses on medieval manuscripts written in different languages and scripts. Its research includes Slavic, Greek and Latin parchment manuscripts and palimpsests from the Austrian National Library and Austrian monasteries, dating from the 8th to the 14th century. Alongside richly decorated codices, particular attention is given to poorly preserved objects and overwritten manuscripts that present major challenges to philological decipherment.
CIMA experts have extensive experience in leading and implementing cultural heritage projects and participate actively in national and international initiatives.
Major research areas
- Multispectral imaging, image enhancement and analysis;
- non-invasive and non-destructive material analysis through XRF, rFTIR and Raman spectroscopy;
- philological analysis, decipherment and interpretation of manuscript data.
Technology and final objective
Using modern technologies, CIMA aims to obtain new and improved data about historical sources and to advance the equipment and methods used for their investigation. A common database integrates the results of imaging, image enhancement, chemical and philological research.
The final objective is to compare the acquired data, reveal correlations between multiple analytical modalities and generate new scholarly and scientific findings.