Saleroom Fiction versus Provenance

This article examines a group of twelve fragments in different languages and different scripts previously held in the Schøyen collection in London and Oslo. After they first emerged on the market in 1993, these fragments received colourful hypothetical and/or fictional pseudo-provenances. However, a consideration of the material logic of these parchment fragments (including folding lines and sewing holes) as well as an examination of the Arabic marginal manuscript notes they carry allows us to re-establish their historical trajectory from the seventh/thirteenth century onwards. At this point, they became part of Muslim Damascene manuscript culture and were reused as wrappers for small booklets in the scholarly field of ḥadīth. In the late ninth/fifteenth century, these booklets were subjected to a massive binding project and the fragments went into new large volumes. This article thus suggests approaches to use provenance research in order to re-historicize decontextualized fragments in modern collections.

Oxen trade from the fifteenth century to the beginning of the seventeenth century and its relations with the environment and space – case study of Greater Poland

The paper focuses on the interrelations between the environment, urban space, and oxen trade. On the basis of sources from the region of Greater Poland, it discusses particular conditions of trade in livestock (routes, pace of driving the animals, the need to feed and give water to the oxen). It also points to thus far ignored issues connected with indispensable adaptation of the urban space to the needs of the large-scale oxen trade which flourished during fairs taking place in various towns and emphasises the necessity to carry out further research in this regard.

Dot blot immunochemical and infrared analyses of the adhesive layer applied to the painting Imago Pietatis by Domenico Morone

Purpose To investigate the nature of the materials used in the adhesive layer of the Imago Pietatis painting (end of the fifteenth century—beginning of the sixteenth century) by Domenico Morone as a prerequisite for its restoration. Methods Micro-FTIR spectra of the animal glue and a polished cross-section were acquired by a Jasco IRT3000 spectrometer, equipped with a 32× Cassegrain objective. A dot blot immunoassay was used to characterise a minor component of the adhesive layer. Results Micro-FTIR was used as an effective diagnostic tool to detect the major component of the adhesive layer and the binder of the paint. Despite the ageing, the complex matrix and the micro-size of the sample, using a dot blot immunoassay, it was possible to quantify 3.7 ± 2.0 ng of ovalbumin per microgram of sample (corresponding to 0.004 ± 0.002% of the weight). Conclusions The findings were in line with conservation practices described in the old treatises, confirming the correct interpretation of the adhesive layer compounds added to the painting and suggesting for the cleaning the use of an anionic water-soluble surfactant highly effective in the removing of proteinaceous materials.

Difficult Unions: Marital Cases Before the Consistorial Court of Poznań at the Beginning of the Fifteenth Century

The utilization of consistorial sources is a research postulate that has been voiced repeatedly over the years. These materials comprise a compact volume of data that are both organized serially and mass-produced, while the fact that they touch upon a wealth of topics and thus have considerable cognitive value for interdisciplinary studies cannot be overestimated. Magdalena Biniaś-Szkopek’s book is a pioneering study and, at the same time, a successful attempt at making comprehensive use of the nine oldest registers of the consistorial court of Poznań. The ledgers cover the years 1404–26 and contain entries devoted to ‘marital issues’ in the broadest meaning of the term, with particular consideration being given to the complex position of women who took part in proceedings before mediaeval ecclesiastical courts.