ArtCodex Company Profile

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the search for the manuscripts the photographic technique The choice of the manuscripts to reproduce in facsimile edition is the fruit of an attentive and passionate research by ArtCodex® in the ancient, medieval, and Renaissance collections of the most important libraries in Italy and the rest of the world. Whether the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana or the British Library of London, the Biblioteca Riccardiana of Florence or the Morgan Library of New York, the Marciana of Venice or the Nazionale Reale of Naples, each of these places preserves treasures of inestimable value, fruit of the ancient expertise of the amanuenses, who with their illuminated masterpieces transmitted the knowledge to future generations. After inspecting the manuscript collection of a Library, one chooses a codex that has the relevant characteristics, such as the elegance and richness of the illuminations, the prestigious patronage, the particularly significant text and content, the state of conservation: these are some of the criteria that lead one to choose the manuscript to be reproduced. Even though the first and most important detail is the immediate fascination felt by the observer when viewing a particular codex. The illuminated manuscript is an extremely fragile work of art. One need only think of the wear and tear that the centuries deposit on the parchments, colors, and binding of a manuscript. Handling an ancient codex in order to photograph it is an operation that requires an extraordinary delicacy and the greatest attention. For this reason ArtCodex®, after years of experience and study in the field, has patented a book stand, denominated Cartesio®, with an extremely light structure, whose mechanism is based upon panels that join together and form the base on which the codex rests, without being subjected to too much stress. The pages are not pulled any more than necessary, and the opening of the manuscript is never greater than 45 degrees, in order to avoid that the binding, especially when very tight, can be adversely affected. The photographic techniques used with the manuscripts are absolutely avant-garde. The use of digital instrumentation, cold lights, and low-penetration flash allows one to obtain the maximum photographic quality possible, without the original manuscript being affected by possible bursts of light or heat. With the photographic instrumentation of ArtCodex®, it is possible to capture all of the page’s smallest details, from its porosity to the degree of the color’s penetration in the parchment itself. 12 13
cartaPergamena® The recreated paper, denominated cartaPergamena® (parchment paper) following the patent developed by ArtCodex® after many years of research, is produced by expert paper-manufacturers and elaborated according to the characteristics of the codex. Each folio is then aged manually so as to present the two different sides of the parchment ( the “flesh side” and the “hair side”). The high quality attained up to this stage of the process is lastly enriched with the single very precious detail that until now it was not possible to propose in high quality reproductions: each golden detail of the ancient manuscript, thanks to the patented technique ArtCodex®, is rendered in 23-carat gold, as in the original decorations. the binding The binding, executed in manufacturing workshops that still use the ancient hand press, is composed of the sewing by hand of the endband and folios, in the absolute respect of the codex’s border and foliation. Of inestimable value both for the uniqueness that characterizes it and for the maximum care that the illuminators dedicated to it during years of constant and meticulous work, the illuminated manuscript is a treasure of rare beauty, which must be reproposed in every one of its details. With this objective, the skills of the ancient amanuenses have been studied at length and subsequently actuated in the reproduction, employing the sophisticated technologies that are available in our time, recuperating the craftsmanlike wisdom of the past, and inventing ad hoc patents that permit an elevation to the perfection of the original codex. 14 15
Page 1 and 2: ArtCodex ® l’Atelier del Codice
Page 3 and 4: ArtCodex® Atelier of the illuminat
Page 5: who we are The new original substit
Page 9 and 10: Vatican City places of culture Bibl
Page 11 and 12: Florence places of culture Bibliote
Page 13 and 14: places of culture London British Li
Page 15 and 16: events and manifestations Modena Mo
Page 17 and 18: events and manifestations Frankfurt

ArtCodex Company Profile

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