Codex not mold-ridden
Fears that mold has infiltrated Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus, the largest collection of drawings and writings by the Renaissance master, are groundless, officials said Tuesday.
The Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, Italy, where the roughly 1,120-page Codex is housed, said a microbiologic analysis of the document excludes “a biological onslaught.”
Some scholars warned last year that the Codex, which contains drawings and writings from 1478 to 1519 on topics ranging from flying machines to weapons, mathematics and botany, had been infiltrated by mold.
But studies showed that black stains that appeared to be mold were caused by mercury salts added as a disinfectant to protect the Codex from just such a “biological and microbiological onslaught,” the library said in a statement.
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