The "ghost" writings hidden under the text of the Divine Comedy penned in "manuscript 1084" of the Trivulziana Library in Milan have been revealed for the first time: useful in reconstructing the origin of the 15th-century codex, probably linked to the city of Naples.

This "subtext" was interpreted thanks to innovative multispectral investigations conducted during the Intradams Summer School (Integrating Traditional and Digital Approaches in Manuscripts Studies) sponsored by the Department of Historical Studies of the University of Milan, in collaboration with the University of Rochester, the Trivulziana and the Historical Civic Archives of Milan, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, the Museo del Tesoro del Duomo Foundation and the Capitular Archives of Vercelli.

"More than half of the 248 sheets that make up the manuscript are palimpsests, that is, they were written, erased and then rewritten," explains paleographer Marta Mangini, who coordinated the Summer School. This is a common fact for ancient parchment codices: since parchment was very expensive it was reused. But in this case the rewriting turned into an important trail for scholars. And above all, an opportunity to try new working methods that can open perspectives for the reading of hitherto illegible documents. In the case of "1084" The presence of these reused sheets "had been known since the nineteenth century," but until now it had never been possible to read the palimpsest writings or "use them to reconstruct the genesis of this copy of the Divine Comedy."

Now the palimpsest scriptures, which can finally be deciphered thanks to a very high-resolution photoreproduction using multispectral lights, give more precise indications of the volume's origin. "The parchment with which it was assembled comes from Neapolitan notarial acts, from court acts or written in French that correspond well with the Angevin environment." So the codex could have been written in Naples or the recycled sheets could have been brought from Naples to Genoa.