Codex Rossanensis returns home

(ANSA) - Rome, June 15 - The Codex Purpureus Rossanensis, perhaps the most ancient illustrated book in history and on the UN list of World Cultural Heritage since 2015, is returning to the Calabrian town of Rossano where it was discovered, said Monsignor Giuseppe Satriano, bishop of Calabria's Rossano-Cariati archdiocese.
    After having undergone a delicate and masterly restoration, the manuscript, also known as the Rossano Gospels, will go on display at the Rossano Calabro archdiocese museum starting July 2. The illuminated gospel manuscript containing the gospels of Matthew and Mark was produced on unique reddish-colored parchment.
    It depicts the story of Jesus with the merchants in the Temple, told with images with such rich detail and color and such fluid continuity that it almost seems like a film sequence.
    It shows the solitude of Judas the traitor and the sense of death that the image of a burned and blackened tree renders better than any word could. With explosive colours, it tells of the meeting of Mark the Evangelist with Sophia.
    The manuscript underwent three years of investigation and analysis in the Roman laboratories of ICRCPAL, the Central Institute for Restoration and Conservation of Archival and Library Heritage.
    That work confirmed its immeasurable value and Eastern 6th-century origin, and revealed new details about how it was made. The manuscript is a treasure that was so masterfully created that it has survived intact for 15 centuries through mishaps, perilous journeys, being taken apart, and even a fire, restorers said.
    It is, however, very fragile, and that's why it will be housed in a temperature-controlled, continuously monitored showcase that will be placed in a completely restored area of the museum furnished with multimedia displays.
    Each of the illuminated pages, 15 in all, is more incredible than the last, as evidenced by ANSA photographs.