** - Lot 183

Lot n° 183

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8000 - 10000 EUR

** - Lot 183

** Composite devotional collection (ժողովածու) belonging to Catholicos Israel of Jraberd Armenian manuscript on paper, copied and illuminated by the priest Barsegh in 1710, in the church of the Holy Mother of God, located in the village of Karahat (Gandzak). Written in beautiful notrgir script, in continuous text arranged over 19 lines, it features numerous ornate letters and marginal illuminations, as well as richly decorated title pages, with bands introducing the various sections of the work. 265 leaves (530 pages). 14.5 x 9.5 x 6 cm. Period leather binding, decorated with an Annunciation on the first cover and the coat of arms of the Russian Order of Saint Andrew on the second. Ornate spine. Two metal clasps with leather straps are preserved. The edges are gilt and embossed. About the painter: The main colophon identifies the priest Barsegh as the author of this manuscript. It provides biographical and family information. This scribe was also involved in the production of another manuscript from the village of Karahat: the famous evangelist's book copied in 1676, with its remarkable silver binding (Matenadaran, ms. 5636). Provenance: The manuscript opens with a later colophon in memory of the catholicos of Aghouank Israël de Jraberd (1763-1765 then 1786-1808), written shortly after his death in 1808. The presence of a colophon with biographical details on the first leaf of the manuscript suggests that it belonged, at some point, to this catholicos. Although he did not commission it, it is possible that he inherited it or that it was given to him as a gift during his lifetime. The text contains information on the life of the catholicos, some of which has never been published before, including the name of his father, Prince Apres. The text also corrects certain historical sources which indicate the dates of Simeon of Jraberd's reign as 1728 to 1763, whereas 1728 corresponds to his date of birth, while 1763 marks his accession to the catholicossate, which ended with his death in 1808. Catholicos Israel of Jraberd played a central role in the early 19th century, in a context of profound political and ecclesiastical recomposition in the Southern Caucasus. Committed to maintaining his jurisdiction over the dioceses of the Gandzak region, he took numerous steps to assert his authority, notably through petitions addressed to the Russian authorities, who had taken control of the region after its conquest. However, his efforts came up against an imperial policy clearly oriented in favor of the See of Etchmiadzin, whose position was strengthened by Russian power, anxious to centralize Armenian ecclesiastical authority. The refusal to recognize the autonomy of the Catholicossate of Aghouank (formerly Albania in the Caucasus or Karabagh) led to the marginalization of Israel, whose attempts to reassert its authority - notably through the collection of ecclesiastical revenues - gave rise to local tensions and led to direct intervention by the authorities. Removed from power and finally forced into exile in Karabagh, Israel thus embodied the last attempt to preserve the independence of the Catholicosate of Aghouank. His failure marked the definitive decline of this institution in the Gandzak region and its gradual integration into the Etchmiadzine sphere of influence. On the decoration of the Order of Saint Andrew: The Order of St. Andrew, the Russian Empire's highest honor, was closely associated with loyalty to the Tsar. Its presence on the binding could suggest that the manuscript's owner belonged to a milieu - ecclesiastical or secular - linked to imperial power, or that he wished to demonstrate a form of adherence to the new Russian political order. From this point of view, it's not out of the question that the Catholicos Israel of Jraberd, to whom the manuscript seems to have belonged, might have been associated with this iconographic choice, in connection with his relations and approaches to the Russian authorities. In the absence of proof that the order was awarded to Armenians between 1710 and 1808, however, it is likely that this motif is more a matter of symbolic language than of actual distinction. In the context of the political and ecclesiastical recompositions of the early 19th century, marked in particular by the decline of the Catholicosate of Aghouank and its gradual integration into the jurisdiction of Etchmiadzine, the use of such imperial emblems could thus be interpreted as a strategy of legitimization or as an expression of affiliation with the dominant authority. Content: This is a devotional collection conceived as an anthology of spiritual texts for reading, meditation and communication.

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** - Lot 183

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