Byzantium and the Art of Binding - STUDITE

Byzantium and the 

Art of Binding 

creAtive workshops 

Catalogue of the exhibition organized within the framework of the STUDITE project 

STUDITE-CAT-Byzantium-Art-Of-Bindings.indd 1 05/09/2012 10:51

Table of Contents 

1. Byzantine Bookbinding: the Purpose and Significance of its Study 3 

2. The STUDITE Project 4 

3. Bindings on Display 5 

4. Exhibition Hosting Organisations 29 

5. STUDITE Partners 32 

the stUDite project is financed with support from the european 

commission. 

This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held 

responsible for any use or misuse which may be made of the information contained therein. 


1. Byzantine Bookbinding: The Purpose and Significance of its Study 

From the time that the manuscript book 

in the Greek language had taken its form 

(the codex – which remains the form of 

the modern book) the binding was an 

integral component. The codex consists 

of a series of double sheets, folded and 

inserted into each other to form quires. 

These are sewn together and the ensemble 

is attached to two rectangular pieces 

(the boards or covers), usually made of 

wood. The binding thus formed is then 

covered in leather (at times enriched with 

precious stones or metal plates). Generally, 

ornamentations based on geometric, 

plant-like or zoomorphic patterns are 

imprinted on the leather covering using 

iron punches. The Byzantine artisans 

devised a variety of refined techniques 

for sewing and attaching the quires to the 

boards. The decorative motifs and their 

combinations are also numerous. Studies 

of these techniques and motifs have already 

allowed the bindings to be characterised. 

When the bindings are ‘original’, that is, 

contemporary with the books that they 

cover, the characteristics of the binding 

together with other criteria, such as the 

style of writing and ornamentation, can 

give us an idea of the location of the 

workshops where the book had been copies 

or bound. It is possible, on occasion, to 

identify even individual artisans, sponsors 

or the original owners. By virtue of their 

function, which is to protect the book 

while travelling, bindings are at risk of 

being damaged or even destroyed. This 

is why frequently over the centuries one 

codex may have had several different bindings. These, in turn, can be grouped and identified, 

which enables us to follow the book in its transitions from one owner to another. 

In short, the study of the Byzantine book binding, one of the finest achievements of Byzantine 

craftsmanship, provides much interesting information on the origin and fate of the Greek 

manuscript book of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. 

STUDITE-CAT-Byzantium-Art-Of-Bindings.indd 3 05/09/2012 10:51 

3

2. The STUDITE Project 

The STUDITE project aims to highlight the technical and artistic contributions of Greek and 

Byzantine manuscripts to the history of the book. Byzantine binding influenced the culture of 

the book in both the Orient and the West, and these connections are the subject of considerable 

cultural and scientific interest. 

STUDITE aims to preserve and enhance this shared heritage to foster better historical understanding 

and intercultural dialogue. 

To achieve its objectives, the STUDITE project has conducted various activities: 

Workshops on contemporary book binding 

The workshops (held in Arles, Athens, Bucharest, Budapest and Campobasso) provided places for 

the creation of both contemporary bindings inspired by Byzantine techniques and the production 

of facsimiles of bindings, representative of various production types (Constantinopolitan, Cretan, 

Athonite, etc.). These workshops have been followed by several exhibitions showing a selection of 

the bindings created in the workshops. Videos and e-learning tools will be made available online. 

This catalogue presents the results of these workshops and images of the bindings selected and 

exhibited in several partners’ countries. 

Interdisciplinary missions to observe Greek and Byzantine bindings 

These missions aimed to develop exchanges between specialists in historical Greek manuscripts 

(researchers, curators, conservators, students, etc.), to promote the study of collections of manuscripts 

and bindings in Europe and to disseminate information collected from these manuscripts. A digital 

resource centre is available at: www.studite.org. 

Development of a common European protocol for the study and description of 

Byzantine bindings 

The objective of this activity is to bring together specialists in Greek manuscripts and to stimulate 

cooperation between them and their institutions in order to develop common methods of 

observing, describing and recording the characteristics of bindings and to suggest methodologies 

for e.g. photography, documentation etc.. The final result of this activity is the production of a 

reference document standardizing the descriptions of Byzantine bindings. 

International seminars on the characteristics of Byzantine bindings and their conservation 

These seminars have been places at which knowledge and expertise on the study of Byzantine 

bindings is exchanged and at which the activities carried out in the project are presented. Their 

goal is to raise public awareness of heritage preservation. 

The STUDITE project is under the patronage of a scientific committee of world-famous historians 

and philologists. 

4 


3. Bindings on Display 

BiNDiNGs FroM the workshop iN AtheNs, Greece 

Angeliki Hamezopoulou 

Athens school of Fine Arts 

Athens, 24–27 January 2012 

Babis Legas’ Bookbinding Atelier 


5

Fotis Varthis 




6 


Euripides Papadopetrakis 





7

Dimitra Siliali 




8 


BiNDiNGs FroM the workshop iN BUchArest, roMANiA 

Ioana Iorga 

Bucharest, University of Fine Arts 

Bucharest, 27 February–9 March 2012 

Romanian Academy Library Bookbinding Atelier 


9

Ioana Capotă 




10 


Laura Vatui Rotaru 





11

BiNDiNGs FroM the workshop iN ArLes, FrANce 

Véronique Desreumaux 

Lycée tolbiac - paris 

Arles, 16–20 April 2012 

Centre de Conservation du Livre 

Facsimile: Paris. Gr. 2788, reliure du 

XVe, du Prodrome de Pétra de Constantinople 

12 


Marina Guittard 

Lycée tolbiac - paris 



Facsimile: Paris gr. 2650, reliure du XVe, 

du Prodrome de Pétra de Constantinople 


13

Mylène Jouve 

ecole estienne - paris 



Facsimile: Patm. 974, reliure XV-XVIe 

14 


BiNDiNGs FroM the workshop iN cAMpoBAsso, itALY 

Annarita D’Andrea 

cesFo –cB 

Campobasso, 20 April–30 May 2012 

EURelations, Bookbinding workshops 


15

Mena Gualtieri 

independent Artist 



16 


Carmela Biondi 





17

Marco Niro 

cesFo –cB 



18 


Marcia Jessica Rosati 





19

Valeria Rauso 

cesFo –cB 



20 


BiNDiNGs FroM the workshop iN BUDApest, hUNGArY 

Sajó Borbála 

képző- és iparművészeti szakközépiskola és 

kollégium/kisképző 

Budapest, 13–24 August 2012 

Képző- és Iparművészeti Szakközépiskola és Kollégium/Kisképző 


21

Édes Piroska 

képző- és iparművészeti szakközépiskola 

és kollégium/kisképző 



22 


Miklós Alexandra 






23

Németh Barbara 




Képző- és Iparművészeti Szakközépiskola 

és Kollégium/Kisképző 

24 


Dörögdi Beáta 






25

Gáspár Tímea 





26 


Bódi Lúcia 






27

Sindely Csaba 





28 


4. Exhibition Hosting Organisations 

roMANiA 

The Romanian Academy Library Exhibition Hall, 125 Calea Victoriei, Bucharest 

(7–19 June 2012) 

The National Museum of Romanian Literature, 12 Dacia Boulevard, Bucharest 

(21–30 June 2012) 

The Romanian Academy Library Exhibition Hall 

The Romanian Academy Library offers a range of exhibitions and events each year to reveal its 

treasures to the public. Recent themes have included: Byzantine Manuscripts in the Collections of 

the Romanian Academy Library; Sweden in Manuscripts and Rare Books; Roots and Echoes of the 

Avant-garde Movement in Graphic Collections; Emile Cioran Centenary; From Alchemy to Modern 

Chemistry, etc. 

The National Museum of Romanian Literature 

The Museum of Romanian Literature holds over 300,000 items, including manuscripts and 

personal papers of Romanian writers and valuable manuscripts of foreign writers including 

those of M. Proust, Thomas Mann, Paul Valéry, G. Papini, G. Ungaretti, etc. The collections are 

complemented by rare books, historical and literary documents, works of fine art, photographs, 

and audio and video items. Along with the permanent exhibition, the Museum hosts numerous 

cultural events and temporary exhibitions, e.g. Byzantium and the Art of Bookbinding organized by 

the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books of the Romanian Academy Library. This event 

generated great interest particularly amongst Romanian young people who were made aware and 

became more curious about the craft and art of old bookbindings. 

Greece 

Workshop of Venia Dimitrakopoulou, Seegy-Dimitrakopoulou Residence, Paheia Rahi, Aegina 

(12 August–18 August 2012) 

Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens, 22 Vas. Sofias Ave., 106 75 Athens 

(19 September–30 September 2012) 

The Seegy – Dimitrakopoulou Residence, Aegina 

The focus of the residents of the island of Aegina on art and culture has motivated them to 

co-organise various artistic events and welcome the public to the studio of the sculptor Venia 

Dimitrakopoulou and to their small open-air theatre named after Iason Molfesis. Numerous artistic 

events and shows have been hosted at the Seegy – Dimitrakopoulou Residence, including the 

International Music Festival of Aegina, with Dora Bakopoulou as art director (2006–today); a 

production of Persephone; a play by Yiannis Ritsos, with Olia Lazaridou (2011); a presentation 

of the work of Iason Molfesis in collaboration with Manos Stephanidis, Curator of the National 

Art Gallery (2004); seminars on drawing and painting in collaboration with Professor Daniel 

Lacomme of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSBA) (2003); summer sculpture 

workshops for children; and so on. 


29

The Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens 

The Athens Byzantine and Christian Museum (BCM) is a national museum with one of Greece’s 

largest collections of Byzantine and post-Byzantine artefacts. The museum has over 25,000 artefacts 

in its possession covering the early Christian, Byzantine, Medieval, post-Byzantine and later periods. 

The BCM plays a central role in the acquisition, preservation, conservation, documentation and 

study of Byzantine and post-Byzantine cultural heritage. It is also interested in linking the heritage 

of Christian art with modern artistic production. The artefacts date from between the third and 

twentieth centuries AD, and their provenance encompasses the entire Greek world, as well as regions 

in which Hellenism flourished. The size and range of the collections and value of the exhibits makes 

the Museum a veritable treasury of Byzantine and post-Byzantine art and culture. It has collaborated 

since 2002 with the Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation 

on the research project on “The Book in Byzantium: Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Bookbinding”. 

hUNGArY 

Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library, Central Library, 1088 Budapest, Szabó Ervin tér 1. 

(24 September–7 October 2012) 

The Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library, established in 1904, provides the services of the public 

library network for the inhabitants of Budapest. The Central Library meets the requirements of a 

city public library, takes part in national and international research works and serves as a national 

resource library in sociology and provides a space for self-study regardless of age and field of interest. 

Information technology is widely used on the premises. 

FrANce 

Centre de Conservation du Livre, Enclos Saint Césaire, Impasse des Mourgues, 13200 Arles (11–25 

October 2012 and 12–26 March 2013) 

tUrkeY 

Sakip Sabanci Museum, Sakıp Sabancı Cad. No: 42, Emirgan 34467, İstanbul 

(October–November 2012) 

Sakip Sabanci Museum in Istanbul 

The Sakıp Sabancı Museum Collection of the Arts of the Book and Calligraphy consists of 

illuminated Korans, prayer books, calligraphic compositions, albums and panels written by wellknown 

calligraphers, illuminated official documents bearing the imperial cipher of the Ottoman 

sultans, as well as calligrapher’s tools, dating from the end of the fourteenth century to the twentieth 

century. Sakıp Sabancı (d. 2004) started collecting primarily calligraphic works and illuminated 

Korans in the 1970s. From 1989 onwards the collection was exhibited in major museums abroad. 

The keen interest attracted by these exhibitions cemented Sakıp Sabancı and his family’s resolve 

to further enlarge the collection and encouraged the idea of founding a museum. Today, the Sakıp 

Sabancı Museum exhibits the Arts of the Book and Calligraphy Collection using current technical 

innovations, and with this innovative stand aims to inform the younger generation about this 

traditional art. 

30 


UNiteD kiNGDoM 

Royal Asiatic Society, 14 Stephenson Way, London, NW1 2HD 

(15–29 November 2012) 

The Royal Asiatic Society was founded in 1823 ‘for the investigation of subjects connected with and 

for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia’. Throughout the course 

of the Society’s history many distinguished scholars have contributed to its work, including Sir 

Richard Burton (1821–90), the noted explorer and first translator of the Arabian Nights and Kama 

Sutra, and Sir Aurel Stein (1862–1943), the renowned archaeologist and explorer of the ‘Silk Road’ 

itALY 

Entrance hall of the Provincia di Campobasso, Via Roma , 47 – Campobasso 

(1–15 April 2013) 


31

5. STUDITE Partners 

centre de conservation du Livre – ccL 

CCL is a non-governmental organization, founded in Arles in 

1993 to develop actions both at national and international level 

in the field of written and linguistic heritage preservation and 

management: collections of books, manuscripts, archives, songs, 

photographs and graphic works. Its services include expertise and 

technical advice, documentation and multidisciplinary cooperation in Europe and abroad. 

CCL also manage a collaborative digital library using open source technologies and offering free 

access to more than 150,000 digitized files of cultural heritage for institutions from every part of 

the world. http://www.e-corpus.org 

CCL is the coordinator of STUDITE project 

Laterna Magica 

The organization was established to create demanding and unique 

cultural and educational projects in Hungary and abroad. We 

give a helping hand to cultural and educational institutions to 

achieve their goals more effectively and efficiently. We offer a full 

service from the writing of the application, to the organization, 

implementation, PR and the dissemination of the results. We 

gladly join any initiative that is eager to spread the common 

cultural heritage in a fresh and creative way. 

international Academic projects 

International Academic Projects Ltd was formed in London in 1989 as an 

international educational charity whose aims are to help promote education, 

training and research into conservation of art and antiquities, archaeology, 

anthropology and other related fields. The activities of International Academic 

Projects include the organisation and management of short professional 

development courses, distance learning and consultancy. 

the romanian Academy Library 

Founded on August 6th, 1867, one year after the creation of the 

Romanian Academic Society, The Romanian Academy Library (BAR) 

was assigned the mission of gathering and preserving the national 

collection of manuscripts and printed documents illustrating the 

Romanian and universal history, culture and civilization. After more 

than a century, it is still considered the richest national Romanian 

library, holding the largest collection of Romanian documents, 

ancient and modern, acting as a scientific and encyclopaedic library. 

32 


the National hellenic research Foundation 

The National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF) is a 

multidisciplinary Research Centre established by Royal Decree on 9th 

October 1958. Its purpose is the organisation, finance and support of 

high-level research projects in the humanities and the natural sciences. 

The Institute of Historical Research covers a wide spectrum of 

study and research fields in Greek history and culture, contributing 

substantially and critically to the knowledge and promotion of Greek 

identity. In 2002, the Institute launched a research project focusing on 

the book in Byzantium with special emphasis on Byzantine and post-Byzantine Bookbinding. The 

project was granted national and European funding for the implementation of research, missions 

in national libraries, data bases and exhibitions. 

eUrelations 

EURelations is an European Economic Interest Grouping 

founded in Italy in 1985, to facilitate and encourage local 

economic, social and cultural growth, through cooperation 

among partner institutions across Europe. 

Its members include universities and research centres, local 

authorities (municipal and provincial, public and private 

schools, training centres, chambers of commerce, cultural and economic foundations, SMEs and 

SME associations from various sectors and firms of consultants. Its services include consulting 

and technical assistance in the development and management of research projects, cooperation, 

innovation, education, culture and media. 

siveco 

SIVECO is a leading Romanian software house and one 

of the most successful software integrators in Central and 

Eastern Europe. 

The company develops and exports IT solutions and consultancy projects with high added value 

to countries from the European Community, Middle East, North Africa and the Community of 

Independent States. 

The company was founded in 1992 and has a team of about 1,300 specialists whose expertise 

(eLearning, EAS- Enterprise Application Suite, Document Management, Business Intelligence, 

eHealth, eGovernment, eAgriculture and eCustoms) addresses both private and public sectors in 

national and international markets. 


33


BookBiNDiNG workshop pArticipANts 

France 

Centre de Conservation du Livre, Arles, 16–20 

April 2012 

Véronique Desreumaux, Marina Guittard, 

Mylène Jouve, Arnaud Hosse, Paul 

Henry Cordonnier 

Tutor/expert: François Vinourd 

Coordination: Nathalie Sabatie and 

Carol Giordano 

Greece 

Babis Legas’ Bookbinding Atelier, Athens, 24–27 

January 2012 

Martha Petraki, Dimitra Siliali, Pantazis 

Tselios, Euripides Papadopetrakis, Fotis 

Varthis, 

Chrysavgi Sampati, Dimitris Syregkelas, 

Louisa Vrade, Angeliki Hamezopoulou, 

Tutor/expert: Babis Legas 

Assistants: Lilian Tzanetou and Elene Lavda 

Coordination: Niki Tsironi 

hungary 

Képző- és Iparművészeti Szakközépiskola és 

Kollégium, Budapest, 13–24 August 2012 

Lelkes Borbála, Lowack Balázs, Hupján 

Anikó, Princz Judit, Kéri Bea, Kurdi Lilla, 

Jakab Rebeka, Cselőtei Zsófia, Csóka Heléna, 

Szalay Cintia, Mór Rebeka 

Teachers: Koncsánszki Iri, Balogh Sándor, Fa 

Lili Eszter, Sopronyi Gyula 

Coordinators: Bíró Ferenc and Bíró Dániel 

italy 

EURelations, Campobasso, 20 April–31 

May 2012 

Annarita D’Andrea, Mena Gualtieri, Carmela 

Biondi, Antonia Iapalucci, Celeste Ianno, 

Antonietta D’Imperio, Marco Niro Antonio 

Bellavia, Marcia Jessica Rosati, Desideria 

Piscopo, Valeria Rauso 

Tutor/expert: Maria Pia Minichetti 

Assistant: Isa De Matteis 

Coordination: Enzo Ziccardi 

romania 

Romanian Academy Library Bookbinding 

Atelier, Bucharest 27 February–9 March 2012 

Ioana Capotă, Ana-Maria Ciubotaru, 

Luminita Kövari, Ana Panait, Izabela Rizea, 

Mihaela Popa, Laura Vatui Rotaru, Elisabeta 

Cosma,Ioana Iorga, Adina Dedu, 

Tutor/expert: Gabriela Dumitrescu 

Assistants: Luminita Kövari and 

Elisabeta Cosma 

Coordination: Mircia Dumitrescu 


Byzantine bindings were the traditional bindings 

of Greek manuscripts from the medieval period 

to the seventeenth century. Indeed, the term 

“Byzantine” refers to the technique and this type 

of binding. 

Byzantine scholars have provided much of the 

texts of Greek culture that exist today. The work 

of Byzantine scholars and writers made during 

the long period of their influence was therefore 

essential for cultural transmission. 

Collections of Greek manuscripts are found 

mainly in Western Europe (but also in Russia 

and the Middle East) in the great libraries 

and monasteries. These collections represent 

between 50,000 and 60,000 manuscripts, 

but only a small portion of these retain their 

ancient bindings. 

The STUDITE project aims to highlight the 

technical and artistic contributions of Greek 

and Byzantine manuscripts to the history of the 

book and to preserve and enhance this shared 

heritage by way of diverse activities including 

creative workshops to create Byzantine style 

bindings and the exhibition of selected bindings 

from these workshops. In this way the project 

seeks to foster better historical understanding 

and intercultural dialogue.

Byzantium and the Art of Binding - STUDITE

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