The codex (Cod.Ital. 3) is being showing in an exhibition called Legendary Istanbul - From Byzantion to Istanbul: 8000 Years of A Capital. The show was organised by Istanbul?s Sakip Sabanci Museum as part of the Turkish city?s 2010 European Capital of Culture programme.
The codex contains a drawing of a statue of the Emperor Justinian erected on the top of a column in Constantinople in 543. The bronze statute was melted down to make cannons just a short while after it was sketched.
The codex is one of 35 donated to the University Library by sultan Abdulhamid II from plunder taken from the Buda castle in 1526. Last autumn, it was included in another exhibition in Paris.
The show at the Sakip Sabanci Museum contains more than 500 objects from 15 countries. It can be seen until September 5.
