Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17018/portal.2016.6
Several Old Recipes from the Library of the Franciscan Monastery in Zaostrog
Jurica Matijević
; University of Split, Arts Academy, The Conservation-Restoration Department, Split, Croatia
Tonija Andrić
orcid.org/0000-0002-4079-2589
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split, Department of History, Split, Croatia
Jelica Zelić
; Faculty of Chemistry and Technology, University of Split, Department of General & Inorganic Chemistry, Split, Croatia
Abstract
An account is given in the paper of a small codex found in the archive of the Franciscan Monastery in Zaostrog. It is an incomplete missal book containing texts and musical scores of chants sang over the course of the liturgical year, on certain occasions and during certain church rites. Nevertheless, the main portion of the text concerns five recipes for the making of writing ink that were subsequently added to the empty folios of the missal. The first recounts how black iron gall ink is obtained, while the second, third and fourth recipes describe the procedure of making dim red ink from brazilwood. The fifth recipe, on the other hand, is barely legible, to the point that it is possible to discern neither the kind of ink that is in question, nor analyze the formula for its making. By examining the paleographical and diplomatic features of the recipes, we have come to the conclusion that they were written by several authors, within a time frame of several decades in the late 15th and early 16th century. Particularly intriguing is the fact that they were written down with the very ink whose formula is discussed in the text. Thus a reader was able to see at first hand the outcome of the production procedure. The central portion of our paper centres on the transcription, translation and the paleographical and diplomatic as well as the content analysis of the recipes mentioned that are, in terms of the technology used, similar to those from Italy. This fact may, therefore, contain the answer to the question of origin of this codex. However, when comparing the Zaostrog recipes with those from Italy of the time, we recognize the utter simplicity of those originating from our side of the coast. In order for the reader to better appreciate the similarities and differences of the Zaostrog recipes and its contemporary foreign counterparts, the text also features examples of recipes from several known technological manuals, such as Segreti per colori, also known as the Bologna Manuscript, the Manuscript of Jehan le Begue and the Montpellier Manuscript. Finally, an explication of the chemical aspect of individual procedures and materials is given in the text, as well as the wider context of their usage in other professions and crafts of the period.
Keywords
liturgical book; Franciscan monastery; Zaostrog; recipes; writing ink; oak gall; iron gall ink; brazilwood; late medieval period; early modern period
Hrčak ID:
171693
URI
Publication date:
28.12.2016.
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