Vatican receives first volume of replica of 800-year-old Aquileia Bible
The first of five facsimile volumes of the Aquileia Bible, a Gothic-script manuscript from the 12th and 13th centuries, was handed over at the Casina Pio IV on September 14, with the set due to be finished by 2031
On September 14 the Vatican received the first volume of the facsimile of the Aquileia Bible, a medieval manuscript written in Gothic script between the 12th and 13th centuries.
The handover took place at the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican Gardens. Cardinal Peter Turkson and Monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò attended on behalf of the pontifical institutions. The project, led by the Scriptorium Foroiuliense ETS Foundation, plans to reproduce all five volumes before 2031.
The original manuscript is kept in the treasury of the cathedral of Gorizia, in northeastern Italy, and its annotations run as late as 1356. Roberto Giurano, president of the foundation, said the Bible was part of the treasury of Cividale before it was moved to Gorizia. He stressed the historical importance of Aquileia, a territory where the authority of the pope in Rome and that of the patriarch in Aquileia existed side by side. Viganò said preserving the manuscript "concerns the very survival of a cultural heritage that helped build the idea of Europe."
Medieval techniques
The facsimile was made using the methods of the old copyists: cotton-fiber paper and natural dyes that reproduce the texture of old parchment. Specialists at the Opificium Librorum, the foundation's medieval production center, carried out detailed philological work to keep the copy as close to the original as possible.
Giurano said that when the team took the codex apart digitally, they found that its binding does not follow the Western pattern, and that it reads from right to left. That has led researchers to suggest the manuscript may have been produced in the East.
The project also has a digital side. High-definition scanning captured not only the writing but the marks left on the parchment over time. The technical infrastructure, developed with NetApp, ensures the long-term preservation of the digital archive.
International reach and charitable commitment
Italy's culture minister, Alessandro Giuli, said the reproduction of the Aquileia Bible is "a gesture of high cultural responsibility" and a "conscious act of love" toward the transmission of knowledge. He said the facsimile works as a "bridge between the centuries," linking the past and the present.
The print run is limited to eight unique copies of each volume. One is destined for the National Library of Japan. The foundation has also signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Tokyo.
One of the special copies of the facsimile will be auctioned, with the proceeds going to the Ospedale dei Bambini Buzzi, a children's hospital in Milan.
Viganò spoke about the Bible's influence on Western language and culture, saying that many everyday expressions come straight from its pages.
