The conservation of illuminated manuscript fragments

Thu 26 June 2014 - Sun 28 September 2014

Fitzwilliam Museum

The Fitzwilliam Museum holds one of the finest museum collections of illuminated manuscripts in the world, second only to that of the Vatican Museum. As part of this corpus, the Museum preserves one of the largest and most important collections of fragments from medieval manuscripts in existence comprised of some 500 leaves, full-page miniatures and cuttings.

This focused display highlights the Museum’s collection of illuminated manuscript fragments and provides a unique glimpse behind-the-scenes into the world of contemporary conservation and some of the considerable challenges that these beautiful objects pose. Learn about the conservator’s choice of materials and treatment methods, and see detailed close-up images of fully conserved fragments showing pigments under magnification.

This work has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the National Manuscripts Conservation Trust, and the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Marlay Group. The display is a precursor for COLOUR: The Art and Science of Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts (August - December 2016), a large exhibition to mark the bicentenary of the Museum’s foundation in 2016.

Cost: free