Gospel Books As a Means to Reconstruct the Armenian Artistic And
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Gayane Babayan Gospel Books as a Means to Reconstruct the Armenian Artistic and Cultural Milieu in Fourteenth-Century Crimea MA Thesis in Medieval Studies Central European University CEU eTD Collection Budapest December 2016 Gospel Books as a Means to Reconstruct the Armenian Artistic and Cultural Milieu in Fourteenth-Century Crimea by Gayane Babayan (Armenia) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ____________________________________________ Chair, Examination Committee ________________________________________ Thesis Supervisor ____________________________________________ Examiner ____________________________________________ CEU eTD Collection Examiner Budapest December 2016 Gospel Books as a Means to Reconstruct the Armenian Artistic and Cultural Milieu in Fourteenth-Century Crimea by Gayane Babayan (Armenia) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ___________________________________________ External Reader CEU eTD Collection Budapest Gospel Books as a Means to Reconstruct the Armenian Artistic and Cultural Milieu in Fourteenth-Century Crimea by Gayane Babayan (Armenia) Thesis submitted to the Department of Medieval Studies, Central European University, Budapest, in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Arts degree in Medieval Studies. Accepted in conformance with the standards of the CEU. ___________________________________________ External Supervisor CEU eTD Collection Budapest December 2016 I, the undersigned, Gayane Babayan, candidate for the MA degree in Medieval Studies, declare herewith that the present thesis is exclusively my own work, based on my research and only such external information as properly credited in notes and bibliography. I declare that no unidentified and illegitimate use was made of the work of others, and no part of the thesis infringes on any person’s or institution’s copyright. I also declare that no part of the thesis has been submitted in this form to any other institution of higher education for an academic degree. Budapest, 16 December 2016 __________________________ Signature CEU eTD Collection Abstract The present thesis deals with the question of interrelation between artistic achievements of the Armenian community and intensifying cross-cultural communication through trade routes in fourteenth-century Crimea. The two fourteenth-century Tetraevangelia from Surxat are case studies in this research. The methodology is based on the iconographic and stylistic analyses of the miniatures of two Tetraevangelia, the investigation of some fourteenth-century colophons and historical review of the period. The examination of illustrations of these Tetraevangelia revealed the use of certain stylistic forms and iconographic models which adhere to contemporaneous Byzantine tradition and Italian models. The notary acts, statute of Kaffa, as well as records in the Armenian colophons display the considerable involvement of the Armenians in the Black Sea trade of the period. The contextualization of the two Tetraevangelia shows that the copying model of the Matenadaran Tetraevangelion originated from the Theodorian-Trapezuntine environment. The Dugento and Trecento models were also used in the process of illustration and penetrated the Armenian environment through the Cilician manuscripts and art objects from cities of central Italy. The Vienna Tetraevangelion may be associated with the Armenian–Chalcedonian environment which needs further research. CEU eTD Collection i Acknowledgements The present thesis is not exclusively my achievement: there are many people who contributed to its accomplishment. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisors, Prof. Béla Zsolt Szakács and Prof. István Perzcel, for their support and comments, as well as the Department of Medieval Studies for granting the opportunity to conduct my research at the Central European University. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Zaruhi Hakobyan for her help and guidance throughout the writing process. I am also thankful to the M. Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts “Matenadaran” and the Mechitarists’ Congregation in Vienna for their willingness and cooperation in the realization of this project. Special thanks to Judita and Ester who constantly encouraged and inspired me during the writing process. Last but not least, I am enormously grateful to my family and friends for their love, care and continuous support during the conduction of this research. I would like to dedicate this thesis to the loving memory of my mother. CEU eTD Collection ii Table of contents Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 - Two Tetraevangelia in the Sphere of the Byzantine and Italian Artistic Influences: The Iconographic and Stylistic Analyses ................................................................ 5 1.1 The general overview of the Crimean school of Armenian miniature painting ................... 5 1.2 The sources of the artistic inspiration for the Crimean school of Armenian miniature painting ................................................................................................................................... 6 1.3 The general characteristics of the two Tetraevangelia ................................................... 12 1.4 The iconographic and stylistic analyses of the two Tetraevangelia ....................... 18 Chapter 2 - The Political Situation in Thirteenth-Fourteenth-Century Southeastern Crimea and the World Around ............................................................................................................... 50 2.1 The Political Situation in thirteenth-fourteenth century Black Sea region ......................... 50 2.2 The Armenian presence in Crimea ................................................................................. 55 2.3 The Cilician-Mongol alliance and role of the Mongols .............................................. 59 Chapter 3 - Trade Network and Armenian Artistic Interactions in Fourteenth-Century Surxat on the Example of Two Tetraevangelia ......................................................................... 63 CEU eTD Collection 3.1 Trade as a driving force in the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries social-economic relations . 63 3.2 The development of urban centers and the emergence of the middle class .................... 64 3.3 The trade routes around Black Sea and Surxat ........................................................... 67 3.4 The contextualization of the two Tetraevangelia ................................................... 79 iii Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 89 Appendices .................................................................................................................................... 96 CEU eTD Collection iv List of Figures Figure 1 “Papanun” marginal stamp of one of the miniaturist, the Vienna Tetraevangelion, fol. 216r. Mechitarists’ Congregation library. ..................................................................................... 16 Figure 2 The Faith of the Canaanite Woman, the Matenadaran Tetraevangelion, fol. 68r, Matenadaran collection. ................................................................................................................ 19 Figure 3 The Healing of Jairus's Daughter, the Matenadaran Tetraevangelion, fol. 151v, Matenadaran collection. ................................................................................................................ 20 Figure 4 The Bosom of Abraham and the Holy Virgin, the Matenadaran Tetraevangelion, fol.297v, Matenadaran collection. ............................................................................................... 21 Figure 5 The Rich Man in the Fires of Hell, the Matenadaran Tetraevangelion, fol.298r, Matenadaran collection. ................................................................................................................ 22 Figure 6 The Bosom of Abraham and the Holy Virgin, mural painting, the katholikon of Axtala monastery, thirteenth century........................................................................................................ 23 Figure 7 The Bosom of Abraham and the Holy Virgin, mural painting, Kariye Djami, 1315- 1321, accessed November 25, 2016, http://nevsepic.com.ua/ . .................................................... 26 Figure 8 The Parable of Ten Virgins, the Matenadaran Tetraevangelion, fol. 104v, Matenadaran collection. ...................................................................................................................................... 27 Figure 9 The Parable of Ten Virgins, Hovhannavank monastery, bas-relief on the tympanum, CEU eTD Collection thirteenth century, accessed November 25, 2016, http://hushardzan.am . .................................... 28 Figure 10 The Parable of Ten Virgins, FGA 32.18, thirteenth century. The image reproduced from Fig. 95, page 159, in Sirarpie Der Nersessian, Armenian manuscripts in the Freer