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The Gruuthuse Manuscript
(Bruges, ca. 1395 – ca. 1408)
The Gruuthuse Manuscript is a very diverse collection of Middle Dutch rhyming literature which was most likely compiled between 1395 and 1408. It is a very prominent document in Dutch history for several reasons. Perhaps the most important of these is that it includes 147 individual songs, almost all of them accompanied by musical notation. And if we count those songs woven into two narrative poems, the total rises to 155. No other medieval source from the Low Countries displays such lyrical richness. Yet the manuscript has even more to offer than that, including the only extensive and original allegories of love in the Dutch language. And, as is now gradually becoming clear, it is a source which documents the literary activities of a song and poetry-loving community in early Burgundian Bruges. Recently the Gruuthuse Manuscript has become part of the collection of the Royal Library of the Netherlands. The Royal Library has made a dedicated website that shows a wealth of information about the manuscript.
This website can be found here .
Recently, the Royal Library, Art Innovation, the National Archives and the Huygens Institute, have started a joint research in which parts of the Gruuthuse Manuscript have been investigated using Art Innovations SEPIA hyperspectral imager. Fig. 1 shows a color photograph of Folio 2 recto of the manuscript.
Figure 1: Folio 2 recto of the Gruuthuse Manuscript (Royal Library).
In Fig. 2, on the left side a section of the photograph of Folio 37 verso has been enlarged. The right side shows a false color image of this same section, made with the SEPIA hyperspectral imager. Through these measurements, text has become visible which was later erased and overwritten with the music notations. Close inspection shows that also underneath the text above the music notations text has been erased.
Study of the hidden text by experts of the Huygens Institute and the Royal Library gives strong indications that this text is identical to the text above the music notations and is most likely erased by the original author to correct a mistake.
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Figure 2: On the left side a real color enlargement of Folio 37 verso is shown. On the right side a false color image made from SEPIA measurements of this same section reveals erased text underneath the music notations.