Scrolls found in the Villa dei Papiri, Herculaneum, have been impossible to decipher until now. The Library, owned by Caesar’s father-in-law, Piso, contained countless treasures, including over 1,800 papyrus scrolls. So badly burnt in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 57, these disintegrate as soon as they are unrolled. A virtual unwrapping of the carbonised scrolls is now potentially achievable, using a highly intelligent computer tomography programme. This detects changing fibre patterns in printed papyrus, scans them and identifies the script. The European Radiation Facility hopes to reveal long vanished Greek and Roman literature, letters and plays.
Cotton sateen and linen which has been hand-dyed, mono- and breakdown printed. Added scrim was acrylic painted to make it stiff. Some fabric was discharged with Formosul using my own Thermofax pattern. From three to five fabrics have been layered and free machine quilted. Hand embroidered text and FuseFX then added decoratively to give the appearance of age.
