Newly Discovered Miniature Fragments of the "Etchmiadzin Gospel Group"
Manukyan, Seda · 2024
Fragments reused as guard-leaves in later codices preserve some of the earliest surviving Armenian miniature painting. Of the more than 11,000 Armenian manuscripts at the Matenadaran, over 2,200 contain older fragments serving as guard-leaves, roughly 300 of them illuminated: including early canon tables, headpieces, Evangelist portraits, saints and rare scenes from the Life of Christ. No comprehensive study of this reuse has been undertaken. Manukyan analyses the fragments bound into four codices and, through comparative analysis, proposes probable places and dates of production, sharpening the picture of Armenian miniature art in its early phase.
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Manukyan, Seda 2024. Newly Discovered Miniature Fragments of the "Etchmiadzin Gospel Group". Matenadaran: Medieval and Early Modern Armenian Studies (MEMAS), Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 159–181 (Mesrop Mashtots Matenadaran / Brepols); eISSN 3041-5063.
What this offers a reader
The oldest Armenian painting survives as scrap paper inside later books. Here is what it shows.
New art-historical evidence on the earliest stratum of Armenian illumination.
Our earliest sacred art was saved by accident, bound into the backs of other books.
The earliest Armenian paintings, found recycled inside later manuscripts.
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