Research

Lieve Watteeuw, The history of the conservation of medieval manuscripts. Supervisor: Jan Van der Stock. Co-supervisor: Jan Wouters. (The Damage Atlas is a part of this doctoral research.)

This doctoral study, with Jan Van der Stock (KU Leuven) as supervisor and Jan Wouters (Royal Institute for the Study and Conservation of Belgium’s Artistic Heritage) as co-supervisor, focuses on the medieval illuminated manuscript in historical restoration theory and practice in collections in (present-day) Belgium. The 270 surviving manuscripts in the Burgundian Library, preserved in the Royal Library of Belgium, provide the study’s core corpus.

The historical stratification and material form of the codex constitute inextricable elements of both its art historical and culture historical meaning. ‘Museological’ and commercial values of manuscripts are determined by the material conditions of their preservation. In this study the material contact with the medieval manuscript from the 16th to the 20th century is methodologically described. By means of these data a chronology is constructed in which historical attitudes, methods, techniques and materials for restoring and preserving the medieval manuscript are placed.

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