The Madruzzo Book of Hours, a Dismembered Manuscript Illuminated by Marie Vrelant: From Devotion to Deception? The ReceptioGate Affair and the Ethics of Manuscript Heritage

This book offers a timely and courageous reflection on the challenges of studying dismembered manuscripts in the digital age. At the intersection of philology, heritage studies, and media ethics, Jordi Lluis Puig explores the mechanisms — both historical and contemporary — by which medieval codices have been dismembered, sold, and sometimes erased from collective memory.

Drawing from concrete case studies and current controversies, including the widely discussed "Receptiogate" involving Prof. Carla Rossi and her work on biblioclasm, Puig investigates how scholarly authority is constructed, attacked, and defended in the face of commercial and institutional pressures. The book engages with ongoing debates on open access, manuscript digitisation, the politics of platforms, and the responsibilities of scholars in protecting cultural memory.

This is not merely a work of analysis, but a call to ethical clarity: Puig’s research urges academics, institutions, and the public to confront the practices that endanger manuscript heritage and to stand against the normalisation of biblioclasm.

The Madruzzo Book of Hours was a splendid 15th-century illuminated manuscript, dismembered in 2017, with its folios resold individually through various channels, including public platforms like eBay and clandestine auctions. This essay presents the meticulous digital reconstruction of the manuscript while examining its artistic origins in the prestigious Flemish workshop of the Vrelant family and its commission by Maria Maddalena della Torre.

In addition to its historical and artistic significance, the book delves into the legal and ethical challenges surrounding manuscript dismemberment. It sheds light on the international complicity of biblioclast networks that exploit cultural artefacts for profit and the covert auction systems that enable these practices. With incisive analysis, the author uncovers the systemic violence—both literal and symbolic—used to protect these illicit trades and advocates for stronger legal frameworks to combat such exploitation.

A groundbreaking contribution to manuscript studies, art history, and cultural heritage law, this book reveals a compelling narrative of resilience, urging action to preserve the integrity of our shared history.