THE ARMENIAN ILLUMINATED BY MESROP XIZANC'I FROM THE COLLECTION*

MIKAEL ARAKELIAN

(The Hebrew University of jerusalem)

This article presents a catalogue of the manuscripts from the Matenadaran - Institute of Ancient Manuscripts repository () written and illuminated by the scribe and miniaturist Mesrop Xizanc'i, an outstanding though not yet widely appreciated artist of the first half of the 17th century active in (). As a result of seven years of investigation, I have identified forty- five manuscripts of this master among fifteen collections housed in the eleven countries,:' the Monastic of the Congregation of (Vienna, Venice), the British (London), the Bodleian Library (Oxford), the Chester Beatty Library (Dublin), the Staatsbibliothek - Preussischer Kulturbesitz (Berlin), the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los-Angeles), the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg), the Institute of Manuscripts of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (Tbilisi), the Monastic Library of the Holy Ejmiajin (Valaršapat), the Church of the Holy Forty Martyrs (Aleppo), the Monastery of the Holy Saviour (Isfahan), the Armenian Patriarchate Library of the Mon- astery of St. James (Jerusalem), the private collection of H. Marti- kian (San Fran?isco), and finally an anonymous private collection (London?). Eight and a codex "History of the Great World Con- queror, Alexander of Macedon" illustrated by Mesrop are located in the Matenadaran. The general catalogues of the Matenadaran included exact data for only six manuscripts which were embel- lished, written and repaired by Mesrop Xizanc'i (Gospels nn° 222,

* This study was supported by a grant (n° 1 751 / 1 999)from the Research Support Schemeof the Open SocietySupport Foundation. I See the biographicaldata, descriptionof the periodsof MesropXizanc'i's artistic life, with a list of manuscripts in 3. -EptpmbuiG,lupquiali r7u?ngjaGqpp2a.pa.1pa m ?FurGpcuGl7urnh?G6Pp1-i hPGG9 hhz?cncul?urnurGGG?p, 1951: 125-134; T.J. tlnwptiljwfi, "hpwGw4wG ununpn XVII tluzph wnw2pG 6-wrl4nqU'bupnul luhqmGgntttuxGptuCtLltupfihpnttt", hptuG-2?ttttft, NN 22-23, bpblwG, 6 (1996)-1(1997): 48-50; M. ApaxenxH,"Onpe,ueneHHe aBTOpCTBa XYROXHHKA Mecpona XH3aHUHno namATHbIM3anHc?M", IlcKyccTBo3HaHHe, KttHra I. 14HCTH-ryTHcrcyccrs, Ha?noHaJIbHaSI: AK3,[J.CMIDIHayuPA, EpeBaH, 1998: 151-166. 148

294, 3598, 6320, 6437 and 6785).2 Apart from these six known Gospels, I have also found three new manuscripts executed by Xi- zanc'i in 1604, 1635 and 1649 ( n° 6093, Romance of Alex- ander the Great n° 3387 and Gospel n° 10877).3 Through a comparison of the information published in avail- able catalogues with the original manuscripts, I have been able to supply new data concerning these codices and compose a cata- logue that contains detailed information of the MSS illuminated by Mesrop.4 As it is not possible to present detailed description of all nine manuscripts, I have chosen four of the more interesting examples that are representative of Mesrop Xizanc'i's and his dis- ciples' style of miniature painting (Gospels nn° 3598, 6437, 6320 and 294).5 My catalogue consists of eleven major scctions:

1. Scribe(s) 5. Possessor 9. Contents 2. Miniaturist 6. Description 10. Colophons 3. Binder 7. Condition 11. Observations 4. Patroness/patron 8. Illuminations of acquisition

I have described the manuscripts in full detail according to the following criteria: library code, date, place of writing and scripto- ria, material, format and dimensions, quantity of folios, columns and lines (with dimensions), quires, script, flyleaves, data of manu-

2 O. >j4tuG?tuG,U. 9tijpnLUjwU, Ufipwpjwfi, ?nzgzul7l&j7LuqpLug Uzu2zrmgjl wfiqwfi UzurrWGzur7tuPzuGjz,h. IL, t3ptittuG, 1965: 259, 276, 292, 1047;h. P, 1970:249, 294, 319, 394; idern., Lruijp ?nzgzul7 ?zu??IrbGBGnzuggzug UzuzznngjmzrGtjzuG UzuznGGzur7zulazuGjl,h. U, bptlwu, 1984:597-602, 991-994,1219-1226; U. ?knpdhtuG, 'ui j zlzuGnzuGliurnjyG?n.trwwbaiuqlitnniphia, IX-XIXr7r7. 1998:403-406. 3 These findingsare a resultof studyingcolophons and unpublishedcatalogues in addi- tion to the originalmanuscripts in the archivesof the Matenadaranand the MonasticLi- brariesof the Congregationof Mekhitaristsof St. Lazzaroin Venice(see q. 4,wl¡npjwu,U. 4,mlhwuu)1ujWU,4tuJ&P&a dGnzugpG?jl ifé r7uzphhh2uzznuzGzunurGGtp (1601-1660 pp.), h. U, bphiLufi,1974: 143-145,h. P, 1978: 244-245,318-319, h. %, 1984: 369-370;cf. lTwq)1uUlpnU(U. tupp. Stp-Unqubutiw(i),L'Gr7lmuGnz? gnzgurl7 hur?k?l?G d&j7uiql7ulg. (lllwUlpwuUlmw(} lnuIplu - U. E9fpLubpfi -U. ?lhtn>appmp4 Unullntut- - laep-\'wtu)121wu -4nuUlwuIlumUlnÙ1u Gpntuturlktt - -4,nnu - '-I.tutUl)1l¡ -UP1U)1p - fflwpu4wuwwU 4,UIll¡wuUlwu- - 1892-1938),lTw2Ulngtwu UtutnhGtutltuptuG. UUUl)1Ul6tinwqflwgntgw4Gbpb hW1Wpwðnl, 133;z3..9?i-puitiwO, Bflzgtu4 hzuIGIr?G c3Gntug?zug,3..Q)11pUltwu hW1WPWðnj)1 (dtiptiGiu0p. U}u)1?wptwutTtuuthQtutltuptuG, 337-340). 4The cataloguein Englishand the illustrationsare publishedfor the firsttime. 5 Two Gospels (nn° 6093 and 6785) were created by master Martiros in Xizan ()in 1604and 1607with the assistanceof his studentMesrop. The Gospeln° 222, a 13th-centurycodex, was only restoredand reboundby Mesropin 1629.Concerning the rest, I have decidedto treat nn° 3387 and 10877separately as they deservespecial at- tention.