The memory of Codes

Montecassino is a unique case in the history of medieval art.

The Abbey is not only the mother house of Benedictine monasticism and one of the main spiritual and cultural centres of the West, but also a fundamental artistic centre for European art. The memory of this important role has been handed down almost exclusively through manuscripts: literary documents and chronicles describing the monumental decorations that have disappeared, and above all the decorated codices. Incredibly, the codices written at Montecassino have survived the looting, earthquakes and bombings that over the centuries have wiped out almost every trace of architecture, paintings and sculptures.

Many Cassinese manuscripts are decorated. They were produced for liturgy, prayer and study. In some cases, they were commissioned by abbots who also promoted the construction, renovation or decoration of churches or parts of the monastery. Today, most of them are preserved in the Archive.

To preserve the memory of this precious cultural heritage, the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio has launched the ‘MeMo. Memory of Montecassino‘ project. The project involves cataloguing and digitising manuscripts, incunabula and documents from the Archive and Library to make them accessible and usable by all.