The Khludovskaya psalter from the collection of the Historical Museum is included in the International Register "Memory of the World"

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has included the Khludovo Psalter among other 74 documents in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. The Registry includes documentary collections — books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, audio and video recordings - that reflect the common heritage of humanity. It is updated by decision of the UNESCO Executive Board after the candidates are evaluated by an independent international advisory committee.

The Khludovskaya Psalter, created in Constantinople in the middle of the 9th century, is an outstanding and one of the three surviving early monuments of Byzantine art. Researchers believe that the unique monument of Byzantine writing was created in the period 843-867. The uniqueness of the manuscript lies not only in its antiquity or in the unprecedented number of beautiful miniatures on the margins of its pages, but also in the fact that it is one of the first monuments of the post-iconoclastic era, created after a long period of systematic destruction of Byzantine cult images.

"The Khludovskaya Psalter is a true encyclopedia of Byzantine art and a truly unique manuscript. The fact that monuments like this ancient manuscript have survived to this day is a real miracle. The inclusion of UNESCO in the list of unique documents of global importance, the most valuable monument from the collection of the Historical Museum, was good news for us, encouraging hope for preserving the possibility of international dialogue for the preservation and study of world cultural heritage," said Alexey Levykin, Director General of the Historical Museum.

The extraordinary variety of plots and the actual character of the characters (the Psalter is richly decorated with 208 picturesque miniatures and a frontispiece) is another feature of the unique manuscript. The numerous miniatures of the monument are divided into four groups. The first is the Old Testament Psalms, which directly illustrate the text. The second group is literal, which depict rivers, animals, and plants. The third is the prophetic ones, representing the New Testament events that were anticipated in the psalms by David. The fourth group reflects the current realities of that time: urban dwellers, clergy, military and emperors. This is practically the only manuscript that vividly reflects the living echoes of the polemic between iconoclasts and iconoclasts. Some of the miniatures even depict historical figures who took part in the iconoclastic controversies of the first half of the 9th century.

Currently, the Khludovskaya Psalter is a 19.8 x 15 cm manuscript containing 169 parchment leaves. 208 marginal miniatures and one frontispiece (illustration next to the title page) occupy 158 sheets. Unfortunately, many of the illustrations were updated or rewritten in the 14th century. Nevertheless, based on the preserved sections of the old painting, it is possible to get an idea of the original style of miniatures.

The staff of the Department of Manuscripts of the State Institute of Fine Arts and the Institute of Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences is currently working on visualization of extinct miniatures, separation of early and later layers of painting, as well as reconstruction of the original appearance of miniatures using multispectral imaging and subsequent software processing using neural networks.