Manuscript No. 34: Hymnal (Fragments)

Item Overview

Title

Manuscript No. 34: Hymnal (Fragments)

Uniform title

Sharaknots'

Date Created

16th Century

Language

Armenian

Collection

Armenian Manuscripts

Notes

Description

Text in small bolorgir, written in one column of 22 lines. Subtitles in red bolorgir, and initials in red erkat’agir. Fols. 31-35 written in bolorgir by a different hand. Musical notations throughout the codex.Because folios are missing at the beginning and end of the book and there are many lacunae throughout the codex, the total number of quires and of the leaves in the gatherings cannot be determined. Only the following folios have quire numbers; quire 6 on fol. 33v; quire 7 on fol. 34; quire 14 on fol. 93v; first page of quire 15 on fol. 94; last page of quire 15 on fol. 109v; quire 16 on fol. 122v. These quires are numbered with the letters of the Armenian alphabet written in bolorgir in the lower margin of the page.

Colophon

Fol. 29v. Written by the scribe.Fol. 190. Written by the scribe.Later Inscription:Fol. 124v. In lower half of the page in notragir.Fol. 124v. In the left margin.Fol. 149. In crude notragir.

Provenance

There are no colophons indicating the date of execution and provenance of thecodex. The only notation contemporary with the boo, written at the conclusion of the “Canon of the whole body of martyrs” on fol. 190., reads: “May Christ God, with the intercession of all the holy martyrs, have mercy upon the scribe and his parents, and upon the owner [of this book]. Amen!” Judging from the script, this inscription was written by the scribe himself, who failed to mention his name or that of the individual who commissioned the codex. The same scribe has left another inscription (fol. 29v), in which he pleads: “May Christ God have mercy upon the scribe. Amen!” The paleography and the style of the illustrations suggest that the book was probably written in the 16th century. According to an inscription on fol. 124v, in A.D. 1654 the MS belonged to the priest Kirakos, who asks the reader to pray for the Lord’s mercy upon himself and the members of his immediate family, who are all mentioned by name. An undated inscription (fol. 149), written by someone named Karapet, son of Avetum, merely mentions his own name and that of his mother Arzun and his brother Mkrtich’. There is no indication as to whether Karapet actually owned the book. Fnally, a notation on a slip of paper indicates that Dr. Minasian purchased the codex from Mrs. Tagoohi Shirvanian on June 10, 1947, for 250 rials.

Physical Description

Extent

190 folios

Dimensions

13x9 cm.

Binding note

None. Textblock sewn and intact, but some quires loose. Many pages torn, some repaired. Traditional Armenian structure evident. Textblock is somewhat distorted at spine. Spine lined with beige cloth. Endban tie-downs through spine lining from primary sewing extant. Herringbone stitch used on four cord supports; four V-notches.

Condition note

Poor state of preservation. Folios missing at beginning and end of the book; also lacunae between fols. 8 and 9, 30 and 31, 32 and 33, 35 and 36, 38 and 39, 58 and 59, 80 and 81, 109 and 110, 122 and 123, 134 and 135, 147 and 148, 156 and 157, 158 and 159, 170 and 171, 182 and 183. Moreover, the entire codex has suffered damage from fire. Fol. 147 has been partially torn off, and some marginal ornaments are partially cut off. Many leaves have been repaired.

Illustrations note

The illustrations of the codex consist of one full-page miniature (fol. 46v), four headpieces with illuminated incipit initials and marginal palmettes (fols. 30, 47, 174, 190v), and a fifth headpiece with a marginal tempietto (fol. 125). There are also, throughout the codex, 79 marginal palmettes and 72 tubular and bird-form initials marking the major divisions of the manuscript.Two hands seem to be represented in the decorative illumination of this codex. The unsteady initials and marginalia on fols. 31-35v are drawn in brick red and occasionally picked out in green. They lack the fuller modeling of the headpieces and other initials, all of which are executed with a softer, surer line in red with accents of blue.The full-page miniature, representing the Three Marys at the Empty Tomb, would appear to be the work of a third artist, in whom ambition overreached skill, particularly in the handling of color. The composition is familiar; it is an advanced stage in the series of ever more crowded compositions based ultimately on Sargis Pitsak’s Gospel of A.D. 1357 at Aght’amar (Matenadaran MS 5332). The Myrophores are crushed against the left margin. Only the first of them has a body; the other two are represented by heads peering over Mary’s shoulder. Their hands, gesturing in inquiry, slip behind the angel, who sits on the slab fallen from the tomb. His wings are splayed, the right one lifted up over the tomb, as in the prototype, but here they are virtually wedged between the Holy Women and the empty tomb. The angel gestures, with two left hands, toward the shroud. Below him, three sleeping guards are shown as three heads perched on a bundle of drapery. Above, the sky is filled with drapery and stray bits of architecture. The sense of crowding is enhanced by compulsive overpainting. No area, save the blue ground behind the shroud, carries less than two colors. The faces are tinted with a light orange, lined with a darker shade of the same pigment, over which the features are outlined in black and dark blue. The effect is more of a war paint than of modeling.

Keywords

Genre

Manuscripts
Illuminations

Resource type

text