Textures of Sacred Scripture

Golden Psalter, Cod. Sang. 22, S. 14 - Book decoration with gold, purple and precious textiles

Materials and Semantics of Sacred Book Ornament in the Western Middle Ages, 780-1300

In the early and high Middle Ages, books were objects of the highest sacred significance. Their significance in the liturgy and private devotion found expression in the decoration of the entire book body with precious materials. Surfaces adorned with gold, purple, precious stones and precious textiles characterise both the external appearance and the decorated pages inside the manuscripts.

The project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation SNF at the Chair of the History of Medieval Art at the University of Zurich is investigating these textures of the Holy Scriptures in four large sub-projects. The focus is also on a number of precious manuscripts from the Abbey Library of St. Gall, such as the Golden Psalter, the Folchart Psalter or the Evangelium longum. Their precise analysis provides a new perspective on the techniques and meanings of medieval book decoration.

Find out more about the project here: https://textures-of-scripture.ch