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‘Inventory of illuminated manuscripts in the Flanders Collection’
Within the framework of the Inventory of illuminated manuscripts in the Flanders Collection project, funded by the Flemish Community, the extraordinarily rich but extremely fragile heritage of manuscripts in Flemish collections is made accessible.
The project’s fundamental aims include informing the general public about the exceptional importance of this cultural heritage and the broadening and simplifying of access to information about medieval manuscripts in Flemish collections for scientific and academic research.
To achieve this objective the Centre for the Study of Medieval Art, directed by. Professor Dr. Jan Van der Stock, designed a specific manuscripts databank. The information and communication technology was developed in cooperation with KADOC, the documentation and research centre for religion, culture and society at the Catholic University of Leuven, and the Maerlant Centre, also based at the university .All the decorated medieval manuscripts in public or semi-public collections in Flanders are individually examined and described in an electronic databank.
Since early March 2003, three of the study centre’s associates have been closely examining the decorated manuscripts in the Ghent University Library, the Biekorf Public Library in Bruges, Kortrijk Municipal Public Library, and the Antwerp City Archives and City Library.
The collections of the Flemish abbeys of Tongerlo, Grimbergen, Bornem, Westmalle and the abbey of Keizersberg in Leuven were already catalogued. The cataloguing of the collections of the abbeys in Bruges (Zevenkerken Abbey and the Grootseminarie), Postel, Averbode and Park Abbey in Leuven will be undertaken this year. In a final phase, the illuminated manuscripts in non-religious collections in Flanders will be catalogued, including that of the Plantin-Moretus Museum.
On the basis of this research, a guide to the conservation of manuscripts will be published. It will include advice and recommendations on the way in which manuscripts should be preserved for the future.
The manuscripts’ art historical aspect is also examined and entered in the databank. In addition to material data about the manuscripts and their decoration the databank includes information on illuminators, workshops, successive owners and the places where the manuscripts have been kept. The databank also contains digital images of the most representative folios, as well as a bibliography. There is also a printed version of the databank. In the course of 2006 the databank will be made available via the internet, creating worldwide access to the hidden treasures of the Flemish libraries.
Academic associates: Anke Esch, Tine Melis and Lieve Watteeuw, with the cooperation of Jet De Mol and Annelies Vogels. Supervisor: Jan Van der Stock.
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