Before the invention of printing, the Bible or its parts were carefully copied by hand, in exquisitely stylized penmanship. The pages of beautiful calligraphy were then decorated, or illuminated, with paintings. Over the centuries a large number of manuscripts were produced. Armenians regarded them as treasurers from God. Commissioning the copying of a manuscript merited almost as much praise as that of erecting a church.

Manuscripts were not necessarily copies of the entire Bible. Often they contained copies only of specific or favorite books, most of the four Gospels. A typical Gospel manuscript would begin with several full-page paintings of scenes for the life of Christ and would also be accompanied by a historic notation of the date of completion, the name of the patron who commissioned the work, and an account of the circumstances surrounding the making of the copy, called colophons. The manuscripts have become unique sources of historical information.

The earlier more Oriental style of manuscript painting is the closest to purely Armenian origin. It was followed in the remote regions of the country where people were least subject to outside influences. In these outlying monasteries the painters were generally monks. Stressing simplicity and austerity, the artists omitted unnecessary details of landscape or setting. They simplified human figures. The appeal of these manuscripts lies in the fact that they do not convey realism. Commissioners of these works were villages who appreciated this style of painting. Being poor, they would commission a manuscript jointly, cherishing it as their most prized possession.

In contrast to these trends, artists often schooled in the traditions of Western art developed the later Cilician style of painting. The ornamental elements in Cilician manuscript paintings began to consist of birds or imaginary creatures painted with precision and perched on the first initial of words. Ornamentation of page margins included the form of decorative floral branches or carefully imitated textile patterns. In contrast to earlier Armenian artistic conventions, these artists stressed detail, rendered human forms in a more lifelike way and placed importance on the background landscapes.

Tens of thousands of illuminated manuscripts were produced during the thirteen centuries of medieval Armenia. Most of them have perished. However, a significant number of well-preserved works still exists in the Repository of Manuscripts (the Matenadaran) in Erevan, Armenia. They can also be found in the library of St. James of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Mekhitarist Library of San Lazzaro in Venice, the Mekhitarist Library of Vienna, and in numerous private collections and museums in Europe and the United States.

Thanks to Bob Takvorian, MA for the contribution of this article.

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