Ancient documents can provide valuable information on the making and coloring of medieval parchment. They describe the use of various organic colorants at different times. This information should be taken into account in analysis of historic artifacts. Based on the information from such historical descriptions, fluorescence and absorption spectrometry can be used complementarily to identify a very small sample of ancient dyestuffs. Fluorescence of dyestuffs can be described by three parameters, i.e. excitation wavelength, emission wavelength and quantum efficiency. A complete rendering therefore requires a three-dimensional representation. A searching examination of colorants on historic artifacts should be based on both documentary evidence and scientific analysis.