The Research Project MABILUS (PID2020-120067GB-I00) is funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation of the Government of Spain (September 2021-September 2024).  Its aim is to study the precious, varied and largely unknown heritage of Byzantine Illuminated Illumination in Spain, from an essentially art-historical perspective and employing an interdisciplinary approach. The objects of enquiry date from the Byzantine period (to 1453), or immediately afterwards (to 1550). The majority are preserved in the Biblioteca Nacional de España (Madrid) and the Real Biblioteca de El Escorial, with some examples in the Biblioteca Universitaria de Salamanca. The project is mainly focused on a novel and pioneering study of the Skylitzes matritensis (BNE, Vitr. 26-2), in close collaboration with the Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España (IPCE), and the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid. For a better understanding of the genesis of this codex and some artistic issues related to it,  a selection of fourteen quires of the codex will be subjected to a systematic analysis of the parchments, pigments, binders and, colouring agents at the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (IPCE). Laboratory techniques will be used, such as multispectral imaging, infrared reflectography, macro-photography, optical and electron microscopy, as well as the necessary sampling.

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