Two illuminated leaves with Armenian inscriptions, 13th cent - Lot 162

Two illuminated leaves with Armenian inscriptions, 13th century Manuscripts on paper. Coptic world, probably Egypt, 13th century. 41.5 x 33 cm per leaf. Important examples of 13th-century Eastern Christian art, these two leaves most likely come from a Coptic manuscript that circulated in Armenian circles, as evidenced by two marginal inscriptions in Armenian. The highly expressive miniatures depict scenes from the Last Judgment and the Weighing of the Souls. Weighing of Souls, divided into two registers: in the upper part, the Deisis - God the Father, the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist - each depicted under an ogival architectural archway and surrounded by stylized palm trees, while the lower part features an archangel holding a swaddled soul next to a balance, facing demons symbolizing the infernal powers. A central ornamental band, finely worked with foliage scrolls and symbols of the four Evangelists, separates the two areas. The white hair of the Virgin, God the Father and the Archangel is an exceptional iconographic detail. Two inscriptions in Armenian, located near the balance, read Դատաստան և Կշիռ (the Judgment and the Balance), likely testifying to a reuse or circulation of the leaf in an Armenian context. The other leaf features decoration in the form of a canon table, composed of three columns, or a tempietto surmounted by a cross symbolizing the Cross of the Second Parousia. The miniature features a central register that divides the page into two parts. In this register, a lion takes center stage, flanked by two harpies. Below, the columns are adorned with twisted red curtains, with jugs suspended between them. In the lower part of the leaf, another Armenian inscription, written in red ink over a few lines, is visible, but remains illegible. The shapes of the faces and their elongated eyes, the types of trees and plants, the vegetal ornaments and the abundant use of red and emerald green bring these scenes closer to two 13th-century Coptic manuscripts: manuscript no. 1 in the Institut Catholique de Paris and Coptic no. 13 in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France.