Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcodePublished 2013

A digital facsimile of selections fromWalters Ms. W.537, Gospels

Published by: The Walters Art Museum600 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21201

http://www.thewalters.org/

This document is a digital facsimile of selections from a manuscript belonging to the Walters ArtMuseum, in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is one of a number of manuscriptsthat have been digitized as part of a project generously funded by the National Endowment forthe Humanities, and by an anonymous donor to the Walters Art Museum. More details aboutthe manuscripts at the Walters can be found by visiting The Walters Art Museum's websitewww.thewalters.org. For further information about this book, and online resources for Waltersmanuscripts, please contact us through the Walters Website by email, and ask for your message tobe directed to the Department of Manuscripts.

Generated: 2013-09-24 13:59 -04:00

Shelf mark Walters Art Museum Ms. W.537

Descriptive Title Gospels

Text title Gospel BookVernacular: աւետարան

Abstract Dated to the tenth century, this manuscript is the oldestArmenian codex in North America and the fifth oldestamong documented Armenian Gospel Books. The principalcolophon on fol. 2v records that Sargis the Priest completedthe text in 415 [966 CE]. Within the framed area, thecommission of the codex is described: a priest, whose namewas replaced by the later owner T’oros, commissioned thework "as decoration and for the splendor of [the] holychurch and for the pleasure of the congregation of Rznēr."As the codex was written and commissioned by priests, themanuscript is referred to as the “Gospels of the Priest.” Itwas formerly known as the “Gospels of the Translators,” as,following the date 415, someone erased the formula “of theArmenian era” and replaced it with “of our Lord,” suggestingan earlier date and implying that the text was based on theoriginal translation of the Gospels into Armenian during thefifth century. The text is copied in large angular erkat‘agirscript. The full-page paintings and marginal ornaments bearstylistic characteristics of Armenian illumination of the tenthand eleventh centuries associated with non-royal patronage.The illustrations comprise the Canon Tables, with only thelast two remaining; the Virgin and Child on a wheeledchariot; the framed colophon; ornamental cross with donor’sportrait; portraits of Mathew and Mark together (fol. 72v, atthe end of Matthew) and Mark with Luke (fol. 114v, at theend of Mark); two final images depict unknown saints (fol.192r, at the end of Luke). Marginalia are found throughoutthe text. It has been suggested that the scribe was alsoresponsible for the illumination.

Date Dated 966 CE

Origin Armenia

Scribe As-written name: SargisName, in vernacular: Սարգիս

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Form Book

Genre Scriptural

Genre Liturgical

Language The primary language in this manuscript is Armenian.

Colophon fols. 2v to 2v:In vernacular: Fol. 2v in angular erkat'agir: Գրեցաւսուրբ աւետարանս նժե: թուականութեան տ(եառ)ն մերոյհրամանով եւ ձախիւք Թորոս քահանաի միաբանութեամբանենայն ընտանեացն ի զարդ եւ ի պայծառութե(ամ)բ սուրբեկեղեցւոյ եւ ի բերկրումն րզսէր ժողովրդոյ (:) Արդ որքընթեռնուք եւ որք լսէք զԹորոս քահան(այ) եւ զամենայնզիւր եղբարսն եւ զծնաւղս նորա յիշեսջիք ի Ք(րիստո)սՅ(իսու)ս ի տ(է)ր մեր. Fol 2v in angular erkat'agir, aroundthe frame: Ես Սարգիս անարժան քահանայ գրեցի ԶսուրբԱւետարանս նժե թուականիս թագաւորելոյ ի վերայ մերտ(եառ)ն մերոյ Յ(իսուս)ի Ք(րիստոս)ի: նմա վաելէ փարքյաւիտեանս յաւիտեանս ամէն:Translation: Fol. 2v in angular erkat'agir: This Holy Gospelswas written (in the year) 415 (= 966 CE) of the era of our Lordby the order and at the expense of T‘oros the priest throughthe cooperation of all the families as decoration and for thesplendor of (the) holy church and for the pleasure of thecongregation of Rznēr. Now you who read (it) and who hear(it) remember the priest T‘oros and all his brothers and hisparents in Jesus Christ our Lord. Fol. 2v in angular erkat'agir,around the frame: I, Sargis, unworthy priest wrote this HolyGospels in the year 415 (= 966 CE) of the kingship over usof our Lord Jesus Christ. To him glory is fitting forever andever, amen.Comment: Framed colophon with polychrome geometricdesign

Support material Parchment

Margins have been trimmed

Extent Foliation: i+237+iPencil foliation upper right corner, rectos

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Collation Formula: 1(2), 2(8,-4), 3(8), 4(10,-3,-7), 5(8),6(10,-3,-7), 7(8,-6), 8(10,-4,-8), 9-12(8), 13(6,-1), 14(6),15(8), 16(8,-3,-8), 17(8), 18(10,-1,-4,-8), 19-20(10,-3,-7),21-22(8), 23(10,-3,-7), 24(10,-4,-8), 25(10,-3,-7), 26-28(8),29(10,-1,-3,-7), 30(8), 31(8,-1,-6), 32(6,-3), 33(4,-1)

Catchwords: None

Signatures: Most quires marked by a later hand on first andlast folios, at bottom center, in black ink

Comments: Quires begin on fols. 1(1), 3(2), 10(3), 18(4),26(5), 34(6), 42(7), 49(8), 57(9), 65(10), 73(11), 81(12),89(13), 94(14), 100(15), 108(16) 114(17), 122(18), 129(19),137(20), 145(21), 153(22), 161(23), 169(24), 177(25),185(26), 193(27), 201(28), 209(29), 216(30), 224(31),230(32), 235(33); many quires composed of two or threebifolia with 2 singletons sewn in

Dimensions 25.0 cm wide by 30.5 cm high

Written surface 19.0 cm wide by 27.5 cm high

Layout Columns: 2Ruled lines: 20

Contents fols. 1r - 237v:Title: Gospel BookScribe: SargisHand note: Large upright erkat'agirDecoration note: Full-page ornamental cross at thebeginning of the Gospel Book, fol. 3r; standing figuresat the bottom of the page at the end of each Gospel;Matthew and Mark on fol. 72v; Mark and Luke onfol. 114v; unknown saints or apostles on fol. 192r;birds, floral and geometrical designs, and one fish inthe outer or lower margins, mark the pericope divisionsthroughout the manuscript; rubrics in gold over red andred; text in brown ink

fols. 1r - 1v:Title: Canon Tables

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Contents: Letter of Eusebius and canon tables 1 to 8 aremissingDecoration note: Text written within columned frame;decoration with geometric designs, interwoven leaves,and birds

fols. 2r - 2v:Title: Prefatory materialContents: Part of the colophon is written on thedecorated bandDecoration note: Full-page miniature of the Virgin andChild, fol. 2r; geometrical framed colophon, fol. 2v

fols. 3r - 237v:Title: GospelsContents: Fols. 3v-72v: Matthew; fols. 73r-114v: Mark;fols. 115r-192r: Luke; fols. 192v-237v: John; thelacunae within the text are as follows: after fol. 46:Matthew 20:8-22; after fol. 88: Mark 6:56-7:13; afterfol. 93: Matthew 20:8-22; after fol. 88: Mark 6:56-7:13;after fol. 93: Mark 9:14-29; after fol. 208: John 6:51-68;after fol. 223: John 12:49-13:6; after fol. 231: John15:14-16:16; after fol. 236: John 18:22-19:7; after fol.237: John 19:19 to the end

Decoration fol. 1r:Title: Canon TableForm: Full-page miniatureText: Eusebian Canon IX

fol. 1v:Title: Canon TableForm: Full-page miniatureText: Eusebian Canon X

fol. 2r:Title: Virgin and ChildForm: Full-page miniatureText: Prefatory materialComment: To the left of the Virgin is the inscription,"Thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee" (Luke1:28)

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fol. 2v:Title: ColophonForm: Framed text pageText: Prefatory material

fol. 3r:Title: CrossForm: Full-page miniatureText: Matthew's Gospel

fol. 72v:Title: Portraits of Matthew and MarkForm: Half-page miniatureText: End of Matthew's GospelComment: The names of the evangelists are written tothe right and left of Matthew and Mark, respectively

fol. 114v:Title: Portraits of Mark and LukeForm: Half-page miniatureText: End of Mark's GospelComment: Names are inscribed to the right of eachevangelist

fol. 192r:Title: Portraits of unidentified saintsForm: Half-page miniatureText: End of Luke's GospelComment: Erased inscriptions

Binding The binding is not original.

Modern dark brown goatskin on wood, blind-tooled withlines and dots forming a cross of guilloche work within atrilobe outline on the upper cover, and, on the lower cover, adesign of interlacing circles; three thong-clasps are missing

Provenance Created in 966 (Armenian era given 415, fol. 2v)

1575 (Armenian era given 1024), Erevan, note by Tēr Nersēs(recto of last fly leaf); this sixteenth-century colophon wascopied by Amirxan Yovhannēs Amirean

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Yovhannēs Amirxanean, November 20, 1839 (verso of lastfly leaf)

Hovannes Amirkan, 1843 (recto of first fly leaf)

Note by Yovhannēs Amirxaneanc‘, February 10, 1844;Tabriz (T‘rviz), April 26, 1844,note by YovhannēsAmirxaneanc‘ (recto of first fly leaf)

February 2, 1844 (This Gospels is in commemoration of themonastery of Saint Grigor the Illuminator, for the Lebanesemonks who are in Rome, in the year of the Lord 1844 andon the 2nd February...). In memory of the "Illustrious, Nobleand Revered orthodox noble Ała Amirxanē YovhannēsAmireanc‘ of New Julfa, for the sake of his soul and for thesake of his whole pious and God-loving family." "Throughthe mediation of Father Vrt‘anēs Eiwłiwnčeanc‘. A.K. theApostolic Misionary in Pars and in New Julfa." (recto of lastfly leaf)

Antonian monastery at Ortakoy, near Istanbul, by 1910

Acquired by Henry Walters, Baltimore, before 1931

Acquisition Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest

Bibliography Thanks are expressed to Professor Bernard Coulie(Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve) forkindly making available his bibliography on the Armenianmanuscripts kept in the Walters Art Museum.

Tašean, Y. Aknark mĕ hay hnagrowt'ean vray.Usumnasirut'yun Hayoc' grč'ut'ean aruestin (An Overview ofArmenian Paleography: A Study of the Art of Writing of theArmenians). Vienna, 1898, pp. 20, 182-184 (in Armenian).

Macler, Frédéric. Rapport sur une mission scientifique enArménie 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 OriginalTypes of Armenian Letters, Paleographic-PhilologicalStudy). Erevan, 1939 [repr. 1953], p. 24.

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Buchthal, Hugo, and Otto Kurz, A Handlist of IlluminatedOriental 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 theFifth to the Eighteenth Century]. Volume 1 [From the FifthCentury to 1250]. Ant'ilias: Tparan Kat'ołkosut'ean Hayoc'Kilikioy, 1951, cols. 121-122, no. 52

Der Nersessian, Sirarpie. Armenian Manuscripts in theWalters Art Gallery. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters ArtGallery, 1973, pp. 1-5, 85, pl. B, pls. 1-11.

Sanjian, Avedis K. A Catalogue of Medieval ArmenianManuscripts in the United States. Berkeley: University ofCalifornia 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 ArmenianArt." Revue des Etudes Arméniennes, n.s. 15 (1981), p. 277,pl. VI.

Cabelli, Diane E., and Thomas F. Mathews, "Pigments inArmenian 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 Fifthto the Twelfth Century). Erevan: HSSH GA hratarakč'ut'yun,1988, pp. 58-59, no. 72.

Alexanian, Joseph M. "The Text of the Oldest ArmenianGospel Manuscript in America: A Reappraisal of WaltersArt Gallery MS 537." Journal for the Society for ArmenianStudies 5 (1990-1991): pp. 55-64.

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Mathews, Thomas F. "Catalogue of Manuscripts. No. 6." InThomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck, eds., Treasuresin Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New Yorkand Princeton: The Pierpont Morgan Library and PrincetonUniversity Press, 1994, pp. 148-149, with pls. 4 and 5.

Merian, Sylvie, Thomas F. Mathews, and Mary VirginiaOrna, O.S.O., "Appendix. Pigment Analysis of Armenian,Byzantine, Iranian, Indian, and Persian Manuscripts." InThomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck, eds. Treasuresin Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New Yorkand Princeton: The Pierpont Morgan Library and PrincetonUniversity Press 1994, pp. 136, 138 (Ms. A2 in tables 1 and2)

Mathews, Thomas F. "The Classic Phase of Bagratid andArtsruni Illumination: The Tenth and Eleventh Centuries."In Thomas F. Mathews and Roger S. Wieck, eds., Treasuresin Heaven: Armenian Illuminated Manuscripts. New Yorkand Princeton: The Pierpont Morgan Library and PrincetonUniversity Press, 1994, pp. 57-59.

Nersessian, Vrej. Treasures from the Ark: 1700 Years ofArmenian Christian Art. London: British Library 2001, p.224, no. 157.

Stone, M.E., Dickran Koumjian, and Henning Lehmann.Album of Armenian Paleography. Aarhus: AaarhusUniversity Press, 2002, pp. 128-129, no 6.

Agémian, Sylvia. Archives Sirarpie der Nersessian.Catalogue. Volume 1. Antélias: Catholicossat arménien deCilicie 2003, pp. 58-59.

Ghazarosian, Arpenik. "L'art du manuscrit." In ClaudeMutafian, ed. Arménie: La magie de l'écrit. Marseille:Maison Arménienne de la Jeunesse et de la culture deMarseille, 2007, pp. 84-85, no 3.12.

Rapti, Ioanna. "La peinture dans les livres (IXe-XIIIesiècle)." In Jannic Durand, Ioanna Rapti, and DorotaGiovannoni, eds., Armenia Sacra. Mémoire chrétienne des

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Arméniens (IVe-XVIIIe siècle). Paris: Musée du Louvre,2007, pp. 177-178 and fig 3.

Contributors Principal catalogers: Der Nersessian, Sirarpie; Landau,Amy; van Lint, Theo MCatalogers: Dennis, Nathan S; Valle, ChiaraEditor: Herbert, LynleyCopy editor: Dibble, CharlesConservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, AbigailContributors: Bockrath, Diane; Emery, Doug; Herbert,Lynley; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.;Valle, Chiara

Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcodePublished 2013

The Walters Art Museum600 N. Charles StreetBaltimore, Maryland

21201http://www.thewalters.org/

This document is a digital facsimile of selections from a manuscript belonging to the Walters ArtMuseum, in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. It is one of a number of manuscriptsthat have been digitized as part of a project generously funded by the National Endowment forthe Humanities, and by an anonymous donor to the Walters Art Museum. More details aboutthe manuscripts at the Walters can be found by visiting The Walters Art Museum's websitewww.thewalters.org. For further information about this book, and online resources for Waltersmanuscripts, please contact us through the Walters Website by email, and ask for your message tobe directed to the Department of Manuscripts.

Released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcodePublished 2013

The Walters Art Museum600 N. Charles StreetBaltimore, Maryland

21201http://www.thewalters.org/