TOROS ROSLIN Drampian I. R. Doctor of Sciences (Arts

TOROS ROSLIN Drampian I. R. Doctor of Sciences (Arts) SUMMARY Toros Roslin is rightfully considered one of the most accomplished Armenian painters of the Middle Ages. His miniatures which are imbued with deep spiritual, poetical and noble feelings revealed through a harmonious colour pattern and composition; his impeccable taste, power of observation and distinctive mastery; the progressive tendencies which are so clearly manifested in his work and which put him well ahead of most of his colleagues (not only Armenian ones) - all these qualities make Toros Roslin’s work unique among other developments of the 13th-century art. Toros Roslin lived and worked in Cilician Armenia. *** The Armenian state of Cilicia emerged in the second half of the 11th century on the north-eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Since the times of the King of Kings Tigran the Great (95-55 BC) a considerable Armenian population lived, particularly Cilicia Pedia within the Armenian Empire. Their number drastically increased from the middle of the 11th c. as a result of the expansionist policy of the Byzantine Empire towards the Armenian Bagratuni Kingdom and after its fall (1045) because of the invasions of the Seljuk Turks. Many Armenians moved from Great Armenia and resettled in Cilicia and the neighbouring lands. For nearly 300 years of its existence, first as the Armenian Principality (1080-1197) then the Armenian Kingdom (1198-1375), Cilician Armenia, being the seat of Armenian culture, spiritual (in 1066 the Holy See of the Armenian Apostolic Church was transferred to Cilicia and in 1441 was transferred back and restored in Ejmiatsin) and political life played an important political role in the Near East and the East-West economic and political relations. The political situation in which the country developed was complex. Interests of different forces clashed in the region, including the Byzantine Empire, the Crusader states, the Catholic Church, Genoa and Venice, the Iconia (Rum) sultanate, Mamluk 361 Drampyan I. R. FUNDAMENTAL ARMENOLOGY № 2, 2015 and other Islamic states. In this intricate setting, not only did Cilician Armenia manage to retain independence, but it also continued to be a key participant in the Near East political life. Several factors were instrumental in the country’s attaining political and economic prosperity: protection from the outside by mountain ridges, abundant natural resources and a convenient geographical position at an intersection of major trade paths between the East and West. In a relatively short period of time Cilicia established itself as a habitable place. Ancient towns were brought back to life, and new ones were founded. Fortresses and castles, monasteries and churches, caravansaries and baths, schools and hospitals, aqueducts and canals sprang up all over the small country. Stability and welfare walked hand in hand with cultural flourishing. From the emergence of the Cilician state till its fall in the last quarter of the 14th century, Armenian culture developed along two parallel, closely related lines. Like their counterparts in Great Armenia, Cilician writers, philosophers, poets, historiographers, artists, musicians, physicians, etc. revived and maintained the Armenian cultural tradition temporarily interrupted in the mid-11th century. Thanks to the favourable historical conditions they often appeared in the vanguard of new trends and developments in Armenian culture. The animation of culture in Europe in the 12th-13th centuries was also manifest in Cilicia. The well-developed urban life proved to be a benign soil for the growth of a more secular philosophy, but the general secularization also penetrated the monastery walls, as it is evident from sermons, parables and fables by Vardan of Aigek, as well as from the work of such religious poets as Nerses the Shnorhali (the Gracious), Grigor Tgha, and Nerses of Lambron. The broad outlook of the ideologists of the Armenian Church, their tolerance for both other Churches and loyalty to various phenomena of national culture had a profound effect on Cilician culture in general. Cilician culture is continuous with the earlier culture of Great Armenia, as is evident in all spheres of life, including art. The great number of surviving miniatures of the highest quality provides extensive material for studying Cilician painting, in particular, its origins, trends and phases, the establishment of principles of the codex decoration, production of different painting centres, Cilician aesthetics, and creative work of individual painters. General Characteristics of Cilician Manuscript Painting When the Armenians who had moved to Cilicia began to settle down in the new place, one of their main concerns was reviving of spiritual life. Monasteries were built, with scriptoriums and libraries. Among the emigrants there were professional scribes and miniaturists who had sound schooling back at home, repositories of the centuries- old national tradition to which they introduced new generations of painters. Another important link between Cilician painters and the earlier Armenian tradition was the 362 FUNDAMENTAL ARMENOLOGY № 2, 2015 Drampyan I. R. manuscripts that had been brought from Great Armenia. They served as guides for the painters, channeling their creative work and facilitating the revival and development of the national tradition that seemed to have been interrupted at the end of that century. However, having inherited the earlier Armenian pattern, in particular that of the 11th century, Cilician miniaturists introduced a number of considerable changes to suit new tastes and demands. In the second half of the 12th century a new distinctive style evolved that became established in the mid-13th century. This was a rich, elegant and refined style. The effect of exquisiteness and richness was achieved not only by using high-quality materials, such as fine white parchment, expensive paints and plenty of gold, but also by the overall design where a manuscript was lavishly embellished with miniatures and decorative elements, as well as by the painting itself, with its bright, exuberant colours, ornamental variety, and masterly execution. As the Cilician style evolved, a number of innovations were introduced: images become less abstract; poses and movements more lively and natural; draperies reveal, rather clearly, body forms; spatial representation of figures and their relative positions become more pronounced; and the colour scale is diversified by introducing semitones. Artists begin to take interest in dramatic features, often enlivening scenes with almost genre details. These progressive developments (which are most vividly expressed in the work of Toros Roslin), together with the generally high artistic quality make Cilician painting of the 13th century one of the most important phenomena in contemporary art. The outward appearance of manuscripts gradually changed: the format became smaller, and, accordingly, the style of the miniatures lost much of the monumentality of the earlier period. The colour scheme also changed, pastel tints giving way to rich, thickly laid colours. The layout became more like that of a book. Following the tradition that had originated as early as in the 11th century, the text and the illustrations were now completely integrated. In the mid-13th century the tradition of detailed narrative illumination evolved, where the miniatures would be incorporated into the text or placed on the margins. A comparative analysis of the Cilician miniatures and earlier Armenian illustrations reveals that everywhere, e.g. in illumination sets, iconography of individual scenes, types of the Evangelists’ portraits, structure and decorative elements of canon tables, and style in general, there existed, on the one hand, close relationship between Cilician art and the national tradition, particularly the 11th-century manuscripts, and, on the other, new features brought about by the evolution of style and decoration system. However, the innovations introduced into the Armenian tradition by Cilician painters were connected not only with the illumination development and the establishment of codex decoration principles, but also with the new age that gave rise to a new outlook, artistic trends, and life conditions. The famous Greek, Armenian and Syrian monasteries located on the slopes of the Black (Holy) Mountain in Cilicia were instrumental in introducing Cilician painters to foreign artistic achievements, in 363 Drampyan I. R. FUNDAMENTAL ARMENOLOGY № 2, 2015 particular, to Greek miniatures, which, incidentally, could be found in other monasteries of Cilicia. By associating with Crusader circles Cilicians became familiar with their artistic produce, such as manuscripts and icons. Various works of applied arts, as they were passing through Cilicia, settled there: Arabian ceramics and embossed metals, Persian carpets and cloths, Chinese porcelain, brassware, silk, etc. Besides, Cilicia preserved quite a good deal of antique monuments. In this artistic treasury, Armenian miniaturists were especially attracted by certain features that appealed to their national spirit - above all, by the ornament to which Armenians as a partly Oriental nation had always been attached. However, as Armenian masters replenished their abundant stock of national ornaments with foreign motifs they invariably assimilated them by giving them a markedly Armenian touch. Inspired by arts of other countries, particularly by Byzantine art, Cilician painters considerably enriched Gospel

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