The Lindisfarne Gospels and two other 8th century Anglo‐Saxon/Insular manuscripts: pigment identification by Raman microscopy

Abstract

The Lindisfarne Gospels (Cotton MS Nero D iv, ca. 715 AD) and two nearly contemporary manuscripts (Royal MS 1B vii and Add. MS 40618) held in the British Library have been analysed in detail by Raman microscopy in order to establish the palette of each. The blue pigment used on the Lindisfarne Gospels is shown not to be lazurite, as concluded in 1960 by visual examination of known pigments and those on the Gospels, but exclusively indigo. Of the Anglo-Saxon and Insular manuscripts studied so far by Raman microscopy, the earliest found to include lazurite in its palette is Add. MS 40618, not on its still extant original miniature of ca. 756 AD, but on later additions of ca. 920 AD. The Insular triumvirate palette, which had been assumed to consist of orpiment, red lead and verdigris, was found also to include red ochre and vergaut (indigo admixed with orpiment) but not necessarily verdigris. The palettes of the manuscripts studied, as specified in existing literary sources, are not reliable, and careful in situ scientific analysis of the pigments present is essential to establish the identity of the latter and of any decomposition products present.

The examination of the Book of Kells using micro‐Raman spectroscopy

“…This mix of colours, known as vergaut, is not uncommon. [19,20,22] ( Fig. 2) www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/jrs The remaining 29 sites were green areas which displayed a bluish green to a bright glassy-green colour with characteristic degradation of the parchment support usually associated with verdigris.…”

Raman spectroscopic analysis of an important Visigothic historiated manuscript

“…Raman spectroscopy has been demonstrated to provide a powerful analytical means of interrogation of pigment composition in art works, with special relevance here to oil paintings, frescoes, wall paintings and manuscripts; some notable results have been obtained and reported in the literature, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, Gutenberg Bibles, mediaeval cantoral song books and early lectionaries [3][4][5][6][7]. From these studies, it has been possible to provide novel information for art historians, eschatologists, conservators and artefact restorers, such as:…”

Comparing the effectiveness of hyperspectral imaging and Raman spectroscopy: a case study on Armenian manuscripts

“…Raman spectroscopy has been used to look at significant works of art by artists such as Picasso [21,24] and Vermeer [10], and also at high value items such as the Lindesfarne Gospels [25] and high profile forgeries [5,26]. Raman has proved to be efficient at pigment identification [5,7], although there are some exceptions such as lakes 1 and other organic pigments which have poor Raman scattering, making identification difficult [14].…”