Illuminated leaf from an Armenian compilation (Ժողովածու) - Lot 166

Illuminated leaf from an Armenian compilation (Ժողովածու) Hamadan, Iran, 17th century. 279 x 195 mm. This illuminated folio, decorated on the front and back, is an isolated page from the Armenian manuscript kept at the National Museum of Ethnology, Nakanishi Collection), dated 1662. The recto features a purely ornamental title page, imitating the opening page of the Gospel of Saint John. The frontispiece is decorated with pairs of lions, pelicans and eagles, surmounted in the center by the bust of Christ framed by two pelicans. In the lower part, the artist has copied the structure of the first three ornate letters of the word Իսկզբանէ (In the beginning), borrowed from the famous Gospel of Eghéghis (Siounik, 1306, work of the miniaturist Sargis, Ms.10525, Matenadaran), but left the word unfinished. The reverse shows a decorative canonical table, with no inscription inside the columns. The tympanum is adorned with a winged lion, while the capitals and column bases take the form of lions' heads - elements taken from the lost folio of the Eghéghis Gospels, now in the Sam Fogg collection (London, ms. 1060). The illumination is characterized by a monochrome green palette and an atypical ornamental technique, far removed from the style of classical Armenian miniaturists. The discrepancy between the decoration and the text, as well as the clearly imitative and unfinished nature of the composition, suggest that these illuminations were added at a later date, probably by a non-Armenian artist copying Armenian models without understanding their significance. The manuscript from which this page comes was probably commissioned for the Armenian community of Hamadan, which settled in Iran in the early 17th century, during the reign of Shah Abbas I. Bibliography: - Y. Tajarian, K.Hamada, From Hamadan to Osaka, via New York: The Armenian Manuscript from Nakanishi Collection of the National Museum of Ethnology , Manuscripts Crossing Borders Transcription, Translation, and Transference of Manuscripts in/beyond the Caucasus, INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP Organized by KAKENHI Project, 20 February 2024, National Museum of Ethnology (Osaka, Japan). - Բ Չուգասզյան Հայերեն ձեռագրեր Ամերիկայի Միացյալ Նահանգներում ԲՄ [B. Chookaszian, Armenian Manuscripts in the United States, Banber Matenadarani], no. 12, 1977, 223-227, - Sam Fogg, Bob Miller, Manuscripts of the Christian East, London, 1996, no. 15. - S. Der-Nersessian, L'Évangile du Maténadaran N.10525 de l'an 1306: contribution à l'Étude de la miniature en Siwnik au XIVe siècle, RÉArm, vol. XVI, 1982, pp. 327-343. - Ա Գեւորգյան Վայոց ձորի եւ Որոտանի մանրանկարչությունը XIII-XVII դդ Երեւան [A. Guevorguian, La Miniature de Vayots Dzor et de Vorotan aux XIIIe-XVIIe siècles, Yerevan], 2004, pp. 90-97.