Albrecht V's magnificent choir book on the Internet

The large-format and heavy choir book with its magnificent binding can only be opened with extreme caution and is one of the most precious treasures in the Bavarian State Library. It was therefore hardly accessible to the public. However, experts at the scanning center of the Munich Digitization Centre have now scanned and processed it over a period of several weeks using highly specialized photographic technology. The images can be accessed online and used for detailed research regardless of time and place.

The choir book was commissioned by Duke Albrecht V (1528-1579) in 1559 for the treasury of the Bavarian dynasty. It contains 26 motets for four to eight voices by the Dutch composer Cipriano de Rore (1516-1565). It is a magnificent codex with rich book illumination of unparalleled quality: in addition to detailed pictorial decoration at the beginning of each motet, the manuscript contains eight full-page miniatures by the painter Hans Mielich (1516-1573).

Before the digital copy could be produced, the work was extensively restored at the Institute for Conservation and Restoration at the Bavarian State Library over the course of a year. The miniatures in the choir book showed numerous areas of the paint layer that were at risk of loss. They were consolidated under the microscope at twenty times magnification using a special aqueous solution of isinglass.

The experience gained from the restoration and digitization of the book will now benefit the top items in the ducal collection, the choir books illuminated by Hans Mielich with penitential psalms by Orlando di Lasso. The two volumes will be restored and digitized over the next one and a half years.

The magnificent choir book of Albrecht V in the Digital Collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek:
http://daten.digitale-sammlungen.de/bsb00103729/image_1

Film about Albrecht V's magnificent choir book:
https://www.youtube.com/user/BayStaatsbibliothek