The Lazarus Project has an ongoing relationship with the Chartres Media Library, L’Apostrophe – Mediatheque de Chartres. The Cathedral School of Chartres was one of the most important schools during the Middle Ages, second only to Paris. The importance of the associated library cannot be overstated to both the Middle Ages and to modern scholars.

During World War II, the Germans held Chartres during the Nazi occupation of France. One brave soldier sneaked behind enemy lines to investigate the German position in the town as part of an effort to avoid bombing the cathedral. After reassuring the allied forces that no Germans were stationed inside the church itself, the masterpiece of Gothic architecture was saved from bombing. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the associated manuscripts. These documents suffered extensive fire and water damage.

The Lazarus Project’s use of multispectral imaging is helping to recover these important medieval documents which are otherwise unreadable. An innovative use of volumetric scanning will help access the information buried inside the manuscripts which are not visible under traditional imaging techniques. We have completed preliminary imaging as part of a pilot project, and are looking forward to future work with the Mediatheque.        [ more projects -> ]