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Conservation of an obituary roll from the Benedictine abbey of Michaelbeuern – Examination, documentation, conservation and restoration

The thesis deals with the examination and conservation of a fifteenth/sixteenth century obituary roll from the Benedictine abbey of Michaelbeuern in Salzburg, Austria. The object consists of three parts: a parchment scroll composed of four sheets, a protective piece of leather at the end and a wooden coil at the beginning of the scroll. The parchment scroll and the wooden coil are joined by three iron nails. The scroll starts with a miniature painting showing the archangel Michael and St. Ulrich, which is followed by 92 entries from different monasteries. Particular attention was paid to the historical context of the obituary roll, the examination and the material analysis of the inks. Obituary rolls served the purpose of informing monasteries that were connected through prayer fraternization, about the deaths of friars or abbots to enable as much prayers as possible for the salvation of their souls. Between December 1526 and February 1528 the object was carried by the envoy Georgius Posch through Austria and Bavaria. In every monastery he visited, his presence was confirmed on the scroll. It is unknown who the deceased person was for whom the obituary roll was written. The inks were examined visually using a microscope, with photographic techniques like FCIR and IR photography and with XRF. These analyses showed that most of the entries have been written with iron gall ink, few with carbon ink or mixtures of carbon ink and iron gall ink, thorn ink, and red leadand cinnabar based inks. The parchment is cockled, partially discoloured and shows different stains and small tears along the margins. The shrinkage temperature is very low, the parchment and the leather are rather degraded. The The beginning of the obituary roll, before treatment. ©Sophie Rabitsch.