Illuminated Manuscripts from Turfan Tracing Silk Road Glamour by Analyzing Pigments

Abstract

Investigation of manuscripts found in sites along the Silk Road shows the history of communication and exchange between Asia and the Mediterranean over the centuries. Different scripts and languages preserved on paper in certain styles provide information about traditions and provenance. To get an idea of the cultural background of the highly developed painting techniques obvious in some illuminated manuscripts, the material used for writing and painting is analyzed. Singular Sogdian and Tocharian manuscripts from Turfan show text on one side with a colorful painting on the other side of the document. In comparison with other productions of different periods or usages from the site, special features are worked out to characterize cultural roots or influence in the network of relationships. Details analyzed in the most elaborated documents show various influences led to the colorful masterpieces. Statement of significance The bundle of manuscripts from Silk Road sites, distributed in different collections, is the most important source material for historic investigation and comparison of scripts, languages, and texts. It became obvious that not only originals, but also translations and copies are common. Some fragments are supposed to fit together. Knowing the composition of inks and paints is often the only way to determine that they have a common source. The highly developed writing material used in a specific place or region or for a special purpose, in particular, gives an extremely important hint about the cultural context of a document.