The Madrid Skylitzes (Biblioteca Nacional, vitr.26-2) is a twelfth-century illustrated version of John Skylitzes' chronicle the Synopsis Historion, which covers the Byzantine Empire throughout the years 811-1057.

It is the only surviving illustrated manuscript of a Greek chronicle. 574 images picture every aspect of Byzantine life, including boats, sieges, literary practices, dreams, ceremonies and Siamese twins.

The manuscript tell its story in three ways: text, images (sometimes three to a page), captions and section titles. It poses complex questions of visual and textual narrative and literacy.

As a Greek work copied in Norman Sicily the manuscript raises issues of the multicultural nature of Sicily in the twelfth century as well as issues of perception, reception and understanding.

This rich source is the focus of a major international project run by the Centre which aims to publish a multimedia version including text, translation and commentary. The commentary will be on the text, the illustrations and what is illustrated, the captions, and the narrative as a whole.

A comprehensive database of the images and their content (e.g. iconographical features, colour, and style) is being developed by Dr Bente Bjornholt, AHRB Centre Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Byzantine Art. Once complete, the database is intended for public use.

Associate Professor Roger Scott at the University of Melbourne in Australia manages the textual aspects of the manuscript, in collaboration with John Burke (Melbourne) and Professor John Wortley (University of Manitoba).

Past events: 'The Cultures and Contexts of the Madrid Skylitzes' International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, 13 July 2004

Colloquium at the Institute of Byzantine Studies, Queen's University of Belfast, 21-22 September 2002.

Contact: Bente Bjornholt, Roger Scott, John Burke.