WS1 
“The manufacture of Iron Gall Inks: retracing past recipes”
with Natércia Teixeira, Rafael Javier Díaz Hidalgo and Malihe Sotoudeh

Date: May 7th 2025
Time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
How many shifts: 1
Max. No. of participants: 12
Duration of the WS: 2h30

In this workshop, we will reproduce iron gall inks and copy a medieval text with the perfect handwriting of medieval scribes. 
Using recipes described in Iberian sources and in the Andalusian technical treatise written by Muhammad ibn Idrīs ibn al-Qalalūsī in the 13th century, we will reproduce medieval writing iron gall inks.
We will be using writing materials and instruments as close as possible to those used at the time, so that each participant may travel back in time and experience what it was like to be a scribe in a scriptorium of a medieval monastery. 

WS2
“Making Iron Gall Inks with or without vitriols: All you need is soluble iron”
with Birgit Reissland, Véronique Rouchon and Ira Rabin

Date: May 7th 2025
Time: 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm
How many shifts: 1
Max. No. of participants: 12
Duration of the WS: 3h30

This workshop will focus on one of the primary ingredients for making iron gall ink: iron. Most ink recipes prescribe the use of green vitriol (iron(II) sulfate), but in some cases, only iron but no sulfur can be identified.
After a short theoretical introduction to historic ink recipes, the mining of vitriols, different compositions of vitriols and the role of iron vitriol in making ink, participants will prepare IGI inks according to historical recipes. Inks will be prepared without vitriol and with different types of vitriol.
This will be completed by applying the inks on various papers to illustrate the influence of the different vitriols on the colour of iron gall inks.

WS3
“Is it an iron gall ink? - Different approaches and challenges in IGI identification”
with Paula Nabais and Sílvia Sequeira

Date: May 7th 2025
Time: 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00
How many shifts: 2
Max. No. of participants: 8
Duration of the WS: 2h

This workshop delves into iron gall ink identification techniques through hands-on exploration. We will experiment with both microchemical tests and spectroscopic analysis on standard samples and real documents. By comparing these methods, we will uncover the challenges, limitations, and how they complement each other to provide a comprehensive analysis.