Getty Museum

Decorated Text Page

Unknown

Date

early 9th century

Medium

Tempera colors and gold and silver paint; fols. 1 - 4 stained purple; disbound

Culture

Carolingian

Department

Manuscripts

Institution

Getty Museum

Silver and gold inks were used for the script on all four purple-colored pages of this manuscript. Over time, the silver has oxidized, making it appear black. The gold ink was initially mixed with a copper compound to economize on the use of gold. The copper has corroded in the past centuries and turned green. In its original state, this manuscript would have appeared rich and magnificent with its deep purple pages and shining silver and gold script.

The authoritative record is held by Getty Museum. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.