Case study A study on Portuguese manuscript illumination: The Charter of Vila Flor (Flower town), 1512 Laura Moura a , Maria Jo~ ao Melo a,b, * , Conceic ¸ ~ ao Casanova a,c , Ana Claro a,b a Departament of Conservation and Restoration, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon, Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Monte de Caparica, Portugal b REQUIMTE-CQFB, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Monte de Caparica, Portugal c IICT (Instituto de Investigac ¸ ~ ao Cientı ´fica Tropical), R. Junqueira n  86, 1300-344 Lisboa, Portugal Received 10 July 2006; accepted 14 February 2007 Abstract The pictorial materials used in the decoration of the front page of a Renaissance Portuguese Charter, 1512, were studied. The front page is an illuminated manuscript incorporating a decorative border, and begins with a gilded initial; it presents iron gall calligraphy and also a red dec- orated initial A. The colours, applied on parchment, are orange, red, green, blue, gold and a reddish brown. They were applied with a common binding medium, a vegetal gum. With the exception of the brownish red, all the colorants were of inorganic origin, synthetic or mineral: ver- milion, red lead, azurite and malachite. In the synthetic colours, fillers such as calcium carbonate and lead white were added. The reddish brown used in the background of the main initial is an organic dye. Gold was used in the main initial as well as in some details in the decorative border. The gold was applied on a substrate of gypsum and lead white in a proteinaceous medium. The materials were characterized by non-destructive techniques, in situ (microEDXRF, UV-VIS emission fluorescence, colorimetry), or, when needed, by micro-sampling (microFTIR), and the results were compared to what is described in medieval treatises on the Art of illumi- nation, as De Arte Illuminandi and The book on how one makes colours. Ó 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. Keywords: Illumination; Charter of Vila Flor; Medieval treatises 1. Research aim ‘‘Colour, like music, takes a shortcut to our senses and our emotions’’ [1]. During the Medieval and Renaissance periods one of the richest and eclectic palettes was often chosen for the production of manuscript illuminations. Fortunately, many of these manuscripts have reached us in excellent conditions, and more importantly, most probably almost without restora- tions. Therefore, they constitute a unique opportunity to unveil the materials and techniques used in the past for colour production [2,3]. Furthermore, the knowledge gained may be used in the future to a better conservation of this illuminated heritage. 2. Introduction The ‘‘Charter of Vila Flor ’’ (Flower town) was granted in 1512 by D. Manuel (king of Portugal, 1495e1521), following the previous one from 1286. These charters were documents granting municipal rights and privileges, and formerly they were granted in order to encourage settlement, during the pe- riod in which the Portuguese nation was created. The Charters granted by D. Manuel where produced in Portugal, and most probably with local materials. * Corresponding author at: Departament of Conservation and Restoration, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, New University of Lisbon, Campus da Caparica, 2829-516 Monte de Caparica, Portugal. E-mail address: mjm@dq.fct.unl.pt (M.J. Melo). 1296-2074/$ - see front matter Ó 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.culher.2007.02.003 Journal of Cultural Heritage 8 (2007) 299e306 http://france.elsevier.com/direct/CULHER/