The long summer of the Vercelli Book.
The Museum of the Treasure of the Cathedral in Vercelli presents a video game, the exhibition Hwæt! The Vercelli Book Saga, and a series of initiatives to unveil all the secrets of the manuscript, until August 12, 2022.
The manuscript
At the end of the 10th century, in Southeast England, a scribe penned the Vercelli Book.
With the skill typical of a religious engaged in an exercise of faith, he copied sermons and compositions, leaving to posterity an exceptional witness of the Anglo-Saxon poetry of the time. The manuscript later, traversing mysterious paths, arrived in Vercelli and was apparently kept in the Cathedral but perhaps forgotten. Many have leafed through it, some have understood it, others perhaps less so, considering that in historical inventories it is often referred to as a text in a barbaric or Lombard language.
The rediscovery
200 years ago Friedrich Blume identified it for what it is: a manuscript in Old English. From that moment on, no one can forget the Vercelli Book, no one can put it in a corner. From that first official indication the dances begin: studies, transcriptions, translations, debates, theories, and many, many mysteries. How did it arrive in Vercelli? Who wanted it in Vercelli? Why do runes appear in the text? Who is Cynewulf? A book, a thousand questions. Many still seeking answers.
The video game
However, in 2019, the Foundation Museum of the Treasure of the Cathedral and Chapter Archive decided to add another piece to the life of the Vercelli Book: from its mysteries, a video game will be born. Hwaet! The Vercelli Book Saga is a serious game developed together with the Institute for Educational Technologies of the CNR in Palermo, with the collaboration of Bepart. The project was supported by the Foundation Compagnia di San Paolo, the Foundation Cassa di Risparmio di Torino, the Foundation Cassa di Risparmio di Vercelli, and Deutsche Bank.
The exhibition
In 2022, 200 years after Blume’s rediscovery, it is time to continue the saga of the Vercelli Book. An endless story of mysteries and codicology that today aims to unite two worlds: the physical and the virtual.
From June 18 to August 12, the Museum of the Treasure of the Cathedral presents the exhibition dedicated to the video game, titled Hwæt! The Vercelli Book Saga: an exhibition of some original drawings that are the basis of the graphic elaborations. Works by Andrea Capone and Matteo Capobianco (Ufocinque), the drawings anticipate the narrative of the video game and delve into the phases of its realization. For the occasion, the Museum transforms into a bridge between the history of medieval Europe and the playability of the contemporary world, complete with a game room set up to allow visitors to indulge in some gaming time.
On the occasion of Hwæt! The Vercelli Book Saga, the Foundation has also organized special meetings with the original manuscript, to explore all aspects of its history. The long summer of the Vercelli Book has begun…
