The cycle of seminars Treasures on Parchment – Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian’s collection of western illuminated manuscripts is the result of a partnership between the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum and the Institute of Medieval Studies and aims to demonstrate the excellence of the codices and fragments brought together by the collector. Although these works have always been accessible to researchers, were studied by experts and disclosed in international contexts, and many of them were exhibited in the show The Image of Time. Western Manuscript Books, in 2000, we felt that this collection was worthy of greater promotion among Portugal’s scientific community and the general public. With this in mind, a group of researchers specialised in this area chose a significant group of manuscripts, with texts and images that characterise the Middle Ages in Europe. In terms of themes, the programme focuses on a wide-ranging group of works, seminal texts in the area of biblical exegesis, spirituality, philosophy, law, liturgy and profane literature, and also includes a session on the issue of conservation and restoration, to which many of the works have been subjected.

It is a cycle of open seminars aimed at the general public, but they will be of particular interest to teachers, researchers and students in the area of the History of Medieval Art.

Coordinated by: Maria Adelaide Miranda and Luís Correia de Sousa

A collaborative project between the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum and the Institute of Medieval Studies, a research unit at the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.