02-09-2025, 02:50 AM
(01-09-2025, 11:18 PM)Bernd wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.The only obvious exception is 'vix' where there's a rightward downstroke in the 'x' that clearly is something else than iron gall ink.
I believe that it is actually the other way: the ink used by the original Scribe of the VMS was not iron-gall ink. The color is wrong, and the (lack of) resistance to weal and water is wrong. It looks more like a tempera or watercolor paint: a water suspension of a solid pigment, such as ocher or umbra, with some binder like gum arabic.
The first round of restoration was careful to match not only the letter shapes but also the color of the original ink. However, that meant using the same kind of ink, since iron-gall ink is like the Ford Model T -- you can have it in any color you like, as long as it is black. But, as a result, the restored text too started to fade. Another Retracer, some unknown time later, tried to extend and/or redo the restoration, but did not bother to match the ink color and used (black) iron-gall ink.
At least that is my current belief. All the best, --jorge