Special limited-edition copies of one of the oldest and most precious manuscripts conserved in the Vatican Library, the Folio 22r of the Vatican Virgil, have been printed thanks to the collaboration between the Vatican Library, Digita Vaticana, NTT DATA Corporation, and Canon Inc. Digita Vaticana will send the reproduction, certified by the Vatican Library itself, to the first 200 people or organisations that make a donation of at least 500 euro to support the project of digitalising the Vatican Library’s manuscripts.

The Vatican Virgil is one of the oldest manuscripts containing the text of the Aeneid. It dates back to 400 A.D. and is composed of 76 pages with 50 illustrations. Folio 22r shows Creusa as she tries to keep her husband Aeneas from going into battle. Using special 3D printing technology developed by Canon, it has been possible to create a facsimile of the same dimensions as the original, characterised by a slight embossment that brings out even the smallest details of the ancient document. You can note, for example, the layers due to the overlapping colours on the irregular edges of the parchment, the gold details on the letters that describe the scene, the defects due to the deterioration of a manuscript that is over 1600 years old, and of course the extreme precision of the colours

The digitalisation process, which has had NTT DATA’S technological support since 2014, allows us to obtain images of the manuscripts in extremely high definition. Thanks to the collaboration with Canon and Océ, which is part of the Canon group, it has been possible to create these unique facsimiles, using Canon’s image processing technology able to recreate the materials, colours, surfaces, and shininess of the original document. The special reproduction, which will be sent to 200 donors, is proof that digitalisation and advanced technology can be used not only to conserve, but also to share the importance and the beauty of universal cultural heritage