Shining Light on Medieval Manuscripts

After a long career making and studying a diverse range of luminescent materials my research turn an unexpected turn. I was asked “Could you use spectroscopy to analyse the paint in an old book?”. Surprisingly little is known about the paints and colours used to paint the vibrant illuminations in medieval manuscripts, some dating back as far as the 6th century. Analysing them is non-trivial: any methods have to be non-sampling and non-damaging and made in the library that owns the non-priceless books. Thus was born ’Team-Pigment’ a collaboration between chemists, historians, conservation scientists and librarians. Together we have studied over 250 manuscripts created between the 6th and 15th centuries and our systematic work has begun to reveal patterns in pigment use through the ages.