In 1994, Italian journalist Enza Massa was at the Italian National Library in Rome conducting research on old texts, when she stumbled upon an unusual find in its stacks; a mysterious manuscript dating to 1629. On the inside of the book was the name of the author, in indelible ink – Michel de Notredame – the prophet Nostradamus.
This find was particularly remarkable, the manuscript included over eighty watercolour illustrations that were painted by the master prophet himself. Contained in the pages of the book are cryptic, bizarre images that some say are prophecies of our future. Letters, symbolic objects, banners, candles, crosses and even a burning tower are all included in the manuscript. Are these images visual manifestations of his quatrains, which extend to the 21st century? How did this book come to be in the library? Why was this book hidden for over 400 years? And are these images so frightening that Nostradamus deliberately hid them?
