The Digital Walters is a branch of The Walters Art Museum Manuscripts Department.
The Digital Walters is a branch of The Walters Art Museum Manuscripts Department.
Dated to the tenth century, this manuscript is the oldest Armenian codex in North America and the fifth oldest among documented Armenian Gospel Books. The principal colophon on fol. 2v records that Sargis the Priest completed the text in 415 [966 CE]. Within the framed area, the commission of the codex is described: a priest, whose name was replaced by the later owner T’oros, commissioned the work "as decoration and for the splendor of [the] holy church and for the pleasure of the congregation of Rznēr." As the codex was written and commissioned by priests, the manuscript is referred to as the “Gospels of the Priest.” It was formerly known as the “Gospels of the Translators,” as, following the date 415, someone erased the formula “of the Armenian era” and replaced it with “of our Lord,” suggesting an earlier date and implying that the text was based on the original translation of the Gospels into Armenian during the fifth century. The text is copied in large angular erkat‘agir script. The full-page paintings and marginal ornaments bear stylistic characteristics of Armenian illumination of the tenth and eleventh centuries associated with non-royal patronage. The illustrations comprise the Canon Tables, with only the last two remaining; the Virgin and Child on a wheeled chariot; the framed colophon; ornamental cross with donor’s portrait; portraits of Mathew and Mark together (fol. 72v, at the end of Matthew) and Mark with Luke (fol. 114v, at the end of Mark); two final images depict unknown saints (fol. 192r, at the end of Luke). Marginalia are found throughout the text. It has been suggested that the scribe was also responsible for the illumination.
Large upright erkat'agir
Principal cataloger: Der Nersessian, Sirarpie
Principal cataloger: Landau, Amy
Principal cataloger: van Lint, Theo M
Cataloger: Dennis, Nathan S
Cataloger: Valle, Chiara
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Copy editor: Dibble, Charles
Contributor: Bockrath, Diane
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Herbert, Lynley
Contributor: Noel, William
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Toth, Michael B.
Contributor: Valle, Chiara
Conservator: Owen, Linda
Conservator: Quandt, Abigail
Thanks are expressed to Professor Bernard Coulie (Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve) for kindly making available his bibliography on the Armenian manuscripts kept in the Walters Art Museum.
Tašean, Y. Aknark mĕ hay hnagrowt'ean vray. Usumnasirut'yun Hayoc' grč'ut'ean aruestin (An Overview of Armenian Paleography: A Study of the Art of Writing of the Armenians). Vienna, 1898, pp. 20, 182-184 (in Armenian).
Macler, Frédéric. Rapport sur une mission scientifique en Arménie russe et en Arménie turque (juillet-octobre 1909). Paris, 1911, pp. 115-124, figs. 22-26.
Łafadaryan, K. Haykakan gri skzbnakan tesaknerĕ, hnagrakan-banasirakan usumnasirut'yun (The Original Types of Armenian Letters, Paleographic-Philological Study). Erevan, 1939 [repr. 1953], p. 24.
Buchthal, Hugo, and Otto Kurz, A Handlist of Illuminated Oriental Christian Manuscripts. London: Warburg Institute, 1942, p. 71, no. 350.
Yovsep'ean, Garegin A., Kat'ołikos. Yišatakarank' jeŕagrac' (E. daric' minč'ew ŽĔ dar). Hator A. (E. daric' minč'ew 1250 t'.) (Colophon of Manuscripts [From the Fifth to the Eighteenth Century]. Volume 1 [From the Fifth Century to 1250]. Ant'ilias: Tparan Kat'ołkosut'ean Hayoc' Kilikioy, 1951, cols. 121-122, no. 52
Der Nersessian, Sirarpie. Armenian Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1973, pp. 1-5, 85, pl. B, pls. 1-11.
Sanjian, Avedis K. A Catalogue of Medieval Armenian Manuscripts in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976, pp. 260-267.
Kouymjian, Dickran. Index of Armenian Art, fasc. 1: Illustrated Armenian Manuscripts to the Year 1000 A.D. Fresno: California State University, 1977, pp. 6-7.
Der Nersessian, Sirarpie. Armenian Art. London: Thames & Hudson 1978, p. 117 and fig. 84.
Kouymjian, Dickran. "The Classical Tradition in Armenian Art." Revue des Etudes Arméniennes, n.s. 15 (1981), p. 277, pl. VI.
Cabelli, Diane E., and Thomas F. Mathews, "Pigments in Armenian Manuscripts of the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries." Revue des Etudes Arméniennes n.s. 18 (1984), pp. 33-47.
Mat'evosyan, Artašes S. Hayeren jeŕagreri hišatakaranner E-ŽB dd. (Colophons of Armenian Manuscripts from the Fifth to the Twelfth Century). Erevan: HSSH GA hratarakč'ut'yun, 1988, pp. 58-59, no. 72.
Alexanian, Joseph M. "The Text of the Oldest Armenian Gospel Manuscript in America: A Reappraisal of Walters Art Gallery MS 537." Journal for the Society for Armenian Studies 5 (1990-1991): pp. 55-64.
Mathews, Thomas F. "Catalogue of Manuscripts. No. 6." In Thomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck, eds., Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New York and Princeton: The Pierpont Morgan Library and Princeton University Press, 1994, pp. 148-149, with pls. 4 and 5.
Merian, Sylvie, Thomas F. Mathews, and Mary Virginia Orna, O.S.O., "Appendix. Pigment Analysis of Armenian, Byzantine, Iranian, Indian, and Persian Manuscripts." In Thomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck, eds. Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New York and Princeton: The Pierpont Morgan Library and Princeton University Press 1994, pp. 136, 138 (Ms. A2 in tables 1 and 2)
Mathews, Thomas F. "The Classic Phase of Bagratid and Artsruni Illumination: The Tenth and Eleventh Centuries." In Thomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck, eds., Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New York and Princeton: The Pierpont Morgan Library and Princeton University Press, 1994, pp. 57-59.
Nersessian, Vrej. Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. London: British Library 2001, p. 224, no. 157.
Stone, M.E., Dickran Koumjian, and Henning Lehmann. Album of Armenian Paleography. Aarhus: Aaarhus University Press, 2002, pp. 128-129, no 6.
Agémian, Sylvia. Archives Sirarpie der Nersessian. Catalogue. Volume 1. Antélias: Catholicossat arménien de Cilicie 2003, pp. 58-59.
Ghazarosian, Arpenik. "L'art du manuscrit." In Claude Mutafian, ed. Arménie: La magie de l'écrit. Marseille: Maison Arménienne de la Jeunesse et de la culture de Marseille, 2007, pp. 84-85, no 3.12.
Rapti, Ioanna. "La peinture dans les livres (IXe-XIIIe siècle)." In Jannic Durand, Ioanna Rapti, and Dorota Giovannoni, eds., Armenia Sacra. Mémoire chrétienne des Arméniens (IVe-XVIIIe siècle). Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2007, pp. 177-178 and fig 3.
These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.
Armenia
Dated 966 CE
book
Non-original Binding
Modern dark brown goatskin on wood, blind-tooled with lines and dots forming a cross of guilloche work within a trilobe outline on the upper cover, and, on the lower cover, a design of interlacing circles; three thong-clasps are missing
The primary language in this manuscript is Armenian.
Created in 966
1575
Yovhannēs Amirxanean, November 20, 1839
Hovannes Amirkan, 1843
Note by Yovhannēs Amirxaneanc‘, February 10, 1844; Tabriz
February 2, 1844
Antonian monastery at Ortakoy, near Istanbul, by 1910
Acquired by Henry Walters, Baltimore, before 1931
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
Armenia
Dated 966 CE
book
The primary language in this manuscript is Armenian.
Created in 966
1575
Yovhannēs Amirxanean, November 20, 1839
Hovannes Amirkan, 1843
Note by Yovhannēs Amirxaneanc‘, February 10, 1844; Tabriz
February 2, 1844
Antonian monastery at Ortakoy, near Istanbul, by 1910
Acquired by Henry Walters, Baltimore, before 1931
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
Dated to the tenth century, this manuscript is the oldest Armenian codex in North America and the fifth oldest among documented Armenian Gospel Books. The principal colophon on fol. 2v records that Sargis the Priest completed the text in 415 [966 CE]. Within the framed area, the commission of the codex is described: a priest, whose name was replaced by the later owner T’oros, commissioned the work "as decoration and for the splendor of [the] holy church and for the pleasure of the congregation of Rznēr." As the codex was written and commissioned by priests, the manuscript is referred to as the “Gospels of the Priest.” It was formerly known as the “Gospels of the Translators,” as, following the date 415, someone erased the formula “of the Armenian era” and replaced it with “of our Lord,” suggesting an earlier date and implying that the text was based on the original translation of the Gospels into Armenian during the fifth century. The text is copied in large angular erkat‘agir script. The full-page paintings and marginal ornaments bear stylistic characteristics of Armenian illumination of the tenth and eleventh centuries associated with non-royal patronage. The illustrations comprise the Canon Tables, with only the last two remaining; the Virgin and Child on a wheeled chariot; the framed colophon; ornamental cross with donor’s portrait; portraits of Mathew and Mark together (fol. 72v, at the end of Matthew) and Mark with Luke (fol. 114v, at the end of Mark); two final images depict unknown saints (fol. 192r, at the end of Luke). Marginalia are found throughout the text. It has been suggested that the scribe was also responsible for the illumination.
Large upright erkat'agir
Principal cataloger: Der Nersessian, Sirarpie
Principal cataloger: Landau, Amy
Principal cataloger: van Lint, Theo M
Cataloger: Dennis, Nathan S
Cataloger: Valle, Chiara
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Copy editor: Dibble, Charles
Contributor: Bockrath, Diane
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Herbert, Lynley
Contributor: Noel, William
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Toth, Michael B.
Contributor: Valle, Chiara
Conservator: Owen, Linda
Conservator: Quandt, Abigail
Thanks are expressed to Professor Bernard Coulie (Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve) for kindly making available his bibliography on the Armenian manuscripts kept in the Walters Art Museum.
Tašean, Y. Aknark mĕ hay hnagrowt'ean vray. Usumnasirut'yun Hayoc' grč'ut'ean aruestin (An Overview of Armenian Paleography: A Study of the Art of Writing of the Armenians). Vienna, 1898, pp. 20, 182-184 (in Armenian).
Macler, Frédéric. Rapport sur une mission scientifique en Arménie russe et en Arménie turque (juillet-octobre 1909). Paris, 1911, pp. 115-124, figs. 22-26.
Łafadaryan, K. Haykakan gri skzbnakan tesaknerĕ, hnagrakan-banasirakan usumnasirut'yun (The Original Types of Armenian Letters, Paleographic-Philological Study). Erevan, 1939 [repr. 1953], p. 24.
Buchthal, Hugo, and Otto Kurz, A Handlist of Illuminated Oriental Christian Manuscripts. London: Warburg Institute, 1942, p. 71, no. 350.
Yovsep'ean, Garegin A., Kat'ołikos. Yišatakarank' jeŕagrac' (E. daric' minč'ew ŽĔ dar). Hator A. (E. daric' minč'ew 1250 t'.) (Colophon of Manuscripts [From the Fifth to the Eighteenth Century]. Volume 1 [From the Fifth Century to 1250]. Ant'ilias: Tparan Kat'ołkosut'ean Hayoc' Kilikioy, 1951, cols. 121-122, no. 52
Der Nersessian, Sirarpie. Armenian Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1973, pp. 1-5, 85, pl. B, pls. 1-11.
Sanjian, Avedis K. A Catalogue of Medieval Armenian Manuscripts in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976, pp. 260-267.
Kouymjian, Dickran. Index of Armenian Art, fasc. 1: Illustrated Armenian Manuscripts to the Year 1000 A.D. Fresno: California State University, 1977, pp. 6-7.
Der Nersessian, Sirarpie. Armenian Art. London: Thames & Hudson 1978, p. 117 and fig. 84.
Kouymjian, Dickran. "The Classical Tradition in Armenian Art." Revue des Etudes Arméniennes, n.s. 15 (1981), p. 277, pl. VI.
Cabelli, Diane E., and Thomas F. Mathews, "Pigments in Armenian Manuscripts of the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries." Revue des Etudes Arméniennes n.s. 18 (1984), pp. 33-47.
Mat'evosyan, Artašes S. Hayeren jeŕagreri hišatakaranner E-ŽB dd. (Colophons of Armenian Manuscripts from the Fifth to the Twelfth Century). Erevan: HSSH GA hratarakč'ut'yun, 1988, pp. 58-59, no. 72.
Alexanian, Joseph M. "The Text of the Oldest Armenian Gospel Manuscript in America: A Reappraisal of Walters Art Gallery MS 537." Journal for the Society for Armenian Studies 5 (1990-1991): pp. 55-64.
Mathews, Thomas F. "Catalogue of Manuscripts. No. 6." In Thomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck, eds., Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New York and Princeton: The Pierpont Morgan Library and Princeton University Press, 1994, pp. 148-149, with pls. 4 and 5.
Merian, Sylvie, Thomas F. Mathews, and Mary Virginia Orna, O.S.O., "Appendix. Pigment Analysis of Armenian, Byzantine, Iranian, Indian, and Persian Manuscripts." In Thomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck, eds. Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New York and Princeton: The Pierpont Morgan Library and Princeton University Press 1994, pp. 136, 138 (Ms. A2 in tables 1 and 2)
Mathews, Thomas F. "The Classic Phase of Bagratid and Artsruni Illumination: The Tenth and Eleventh Centuries." In Thomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck, eds., Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New York and Princeton: The Pierpont Morgan Library and Princeton University Press, 1994, pp. 57-59.
Nersessian, Vrej. Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years of Armenian Christian Art. London: British Library 2001, p. 224, no. 157.
Stone, M.E., Dickran Koumjian, and Henning Lehmann. Album of Armenian Paleography. Aarhus: Aaarhus University Press, 2002, pp. 128-129, no 6.
Agémian, Sylvia. Archives Sirarpie der Nersessian. Catalogue. Volume 1. Antélias: Catholicossat arménien de Cilicie 2003, pp. 58-59.
Ghazarosian, Arpenik. "L'art du manuscrit." In Claude Mutafian, ed. Arménie: La magie de l'écrit. Marseille: Maison Arménienne de la Jeunesse et de la culture de Marseille, 2007, pp. 84-85, no 3.12.
Rapti, Ioanna. "La peinture dans les livres (IXe-XIIIe siècle)." In Jannic Durand, Ioanna Rapti, and Dorota Giovannoni, eds., Armenia Sacra. Mémoire chrétienne des Arméniens (IVe-XVIIIe siècle). Paris: Musée du Louvre, 2007, pp. 177-178 and fig 3.
These are pages that we pulled aside that disrupted the flow of the manuscript reader. These may be bindings, inserts, bookmarks, and various other oddities.
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