A national museum has completed the acquisition of a rare 13th-century illuminated manuscript that spent more than sixty years in a private European collection, bringing the work into public hands for the first time and making it accessible to scholars and the general public.
The acquisition was funded through a combination of government arts grants and a public appeal that raised over €1.2 million from individual donors, demonstrating unusual civic engagement with cultural heritage preservation.
The manuscript, which contains an early vernacular translation of a devotional text with exceptional full-page illustrations, will go on public display following conservation work expected to take several months.
