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.
This Gospels manuscript was written in 937 of the Armenian era [1488 CE] in the province of Ekełeac' by the priest Łazar at the monastery of Surb Awgsend (St. Auxentius). Though the fifteenth-century manuscript was not a terribly costly production, it later came to be housed in a magnificent binding with large silver plaques showing the Presentation of the Christ Child in the Temple on the front and the Ascension on the back. This silver binding, which can be assigned to the seventeenth or early eighteenth century, was likely produced in Kayseri (Turkey). The manuscript's fifteenth-century Evangelist portraits show signs of Mongolian artistic influence, stemming from the time when Mongols had conquered the province. For a manuscript of similar style, see the Gospels in Jerusalem, no. 298, copied by Maghak’ia in 1497. The Walters' Silver Gospels was used over a long period by a succession of owners. Information about its history is given in its colophons and ownership inscriptions on the codex's final folios. One note indicates that the book was rebound in 1626, and offered to the church of Surb Astuacacin (Holy Theotokos) in memory of Caruk, Kirakos, and Girigor (fol. 280r). The last date given is the Armenian year 1161 (1712 CE), which may be when the manuscript was rebound.
Principal cataloger: Der Nersessian, Sirarpie
Principal cataloger: Landau, Amy
Principal cataloger: van Lint, Theo M
Cataloger: Herbert, Lynley
Cataloger: Noel, William
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Copy editor: Dibble, Charles
Contributor: Bockrath, Diane
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Noel, William
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Toth, Michael B.
Conservator: Owen, Linda
Conservator: Quandt, Abigail
Mathews, Thomas F., and Roger S. Wieck, eds. Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 1994, p.152, no. 11, figs. 83, 99.
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.
Merian, Sylvie, L. “The Armenian Silversmiths Kesaria/Kayseri: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.” In Armenian Kesaria/Caesarea and Asia Minor. Ed. Richard G. Hovannisian, UCLA Armenian History and Culture Series, Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces, 12. Forthcoming 2013.
Der Nersessian, Sirarpie. Armenian Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore: The Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1973, pp. 52-55, figs. 248-264.
Sanjian, Avedis K. A Catalogue of Medieval Armenian Manuscripts in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976, pp. 305-309.
Merian, Sylvie, L.,“The Structure of Armenian Bookbinding and Its Relation to Near Eastern Bookmaking Traditions” (Ph.D. diss. Columbia University), 1993, pp. 81-82
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.
Ekełeac'
Dated 1488 CE
book
Non-original Binding
Brown goatskin over wooden boards, with a flap tooled in blind with small tools. The spine is decorated with a succession of vertical incisions and rises at the head and tail. The headbands are embroidered in red, black, and tan. The boards are lined with coarse blue linen. Each cover is overlaid with a plaque of silver worked in repoussé and finished by chiseling. The central panel of the upper cover depicts the Presentation in the Temple, and on the lower cover, the Ascension of Christ. Each scene is framed with a border of cherub heads. This silver binding, which is attributable to the seventeenth or early eighteenth century, was likely produced in Kayseri (Turkey).
The primary language in this manuscript is Armenian.
Written by the priest Łazar, in 1488, at the monastery of Surb Awgsend
Purchased by an individual named Ełiay before 1626
The book was rebound in 1626, and offered to the church of Surb Astuacacin
Owned by Xač'ik, who gave it to the church of Surf Parsam
Owned by a lady named Nonafar T'ṙkc'i before 1712
Acquired by the priest Nersēs from an individual named Pahatur
Belonged to the church of Surb Lusaworič
Henry Walters, Baltimore, acquired before 1931
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
Ekełeac'
Dated 1488 CE
book
The primary language in this manuscript is Armenian.
Written by the priest Łazar, in 1488, at the monastery of Surb Awgsend
Purchased by an individual named Ełiay before 1626
The book was rebound in 1626, and offered to the church of Surb Astuacacin
Owned by Xač'ik, who gave it to the church of Surf Parsam
Owned by a lady named Nonafar T'ṙkc'i before 1712
Acquired by the priest Nersēs from an individual named Pahatur
Belonged to the church of Surb Lusaworič
Henry Walters, Baltimore, acquired before 1931
Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest
This Gospels manuscript was written in 937 of the Armenian era [1488 CE] in the province of Ekełeac' by the priest Łazar at the monastery of Surb Awgsend (St. Auxentius). Though the fifteenth-century manuscript was not a terribly costly production, it later came to be housed in a magnificent binding with large silver plaques showing the Presentation of the Christ Child in the Temple on the front and the Ascension on the back. This silver binding, which can be assigned to the seventeenth or early eighteenth century, was likely produced in Kayseri (Turkey). The manuscript's fifteenth-century Evangelist portraits show signs of Mongolian artistic influence, stemming from the time when Mongols had conquered the province. For a manuscript of similar style, see the Gospels in Jerusalem, no. 298, copied by Maghak’ia in 1497. The Walters' Silver Gospels was used over a long period by a succession of owners. Information about its history is given in its colophons and ownership inscriptions on the codex's final folios. One note indicates that the book was rebound in 1626, and offered to the church of Surb Astuacacin (Holy Theotokos) in memory of Caruk, Kirakos, and Girigor (fol. 280r). The last date given is the Armenian year 1161 (1712 CE), which may be when the manuscript was rebound.
Principal cataloger: Der Nersessian, Sirarpie
Principal cataloger: Landau, Amy
Principal cataloger: van Lint, Theo M
Cataloger: Herbert, Lynley
Cataloger: Noel, William
Editor: Herbert, Lynley
Copy editor: Dibble, Charles
Contributor: Bockrath, Diane
Contributor: Emery, Doug
Contributor: Noel, William
Contributor: Tabritha, Ariel
Contributor: Toth, Michael B.
Conservator: Owen, Linda
Conservator: Quandt, Abigail
Mathews, Thomas F., and Roger S. Wieck, eds. Treasures in Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 1994, p.152, no. 11, figs. 83, 99.
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.
Merian, Sylvie, L. “The Armenian Silversmiths Kesaria/Kayseri: Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.” In Armenian Kesaria/Caesarea and Asia Minor. Ed. Richard G. Hovannisian, UCLA Armenian History and Culture Series, Historic Armenian Cities and Provinces, 12. Forthcoming 2013.
Der Nersessian, Sirarpie. Armenian Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore: The Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1973, pp. 52-55, figs. 248-264.
Sanjian, Avedis K. A Catalogue of Medieval Armenian Manuscripts in the United States. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976, pp. 305-309.
Merian, Sylvie, L.,“The Structure of Armenian Bookbinding and Its Relation to Near Eastern Bookmaking Traditions” (Ph.D. diss. Columbia University), 1993, pp. 81-82
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.
Clear All