Splendid Armenian manuscript in red and black ink on paper, Tetra-Evangeliary (Avetaran), about 1480
Including 4 full-page colour evangelist miniatures, 2 colour canon plates, 4 colour incipit plates and over 200 ornamental and figural marginal miniatures
This is a magnificent Armenian manuscript, 15th century, in black and red ink on paper including texts from the 4 Gospels for lection – a highly valuable rarity also in terms of art history.
It includes 4 full-page colour evangelist miniatures in yellow, wine-red, red, blue, grey and green, 2 (of 10) colour (red and blue) canon plates, 4 colour incipit plates and over 200 ornamental and figural marginal miniatures in red, blue and green.
There are 2 endpapers at the beginning and 2 at the end, all containing Armenian manuscript text (Bolorgir scripture) on paper from the 15th century.
As the work has got no colophon, an exact dating is impossible. However, a date of origin around 1480 is very probable as there is a manuscript of 1488 which is identical regarding size and scripture and whose miniatures are very similar in terms of manner and colours (see description in: Sirarpie Der Nersessian, Armenian Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore 1973, p. 52ff and tables 165-173, Ms.w.542 Four Gospels).
According to this, the present evangeliary comes from the school of Hovhannes Hamschentzi in the province Ekegheatz, who worked in the monastery Avag Vank first and later in the monastery Kapos, "the foremost intellectual center of Armenia" (Der Nersessian p. 53).
Prof. Dr. Hermann Goltz and Dr. phil. Armenuhi Drost-Abgarjan from Halle (Saale) as well as a further expert from London confirmed to us that the above ascription is very likely and a dating much later can definitely be excluded.
