Armenian Gospels of 966

Armenia · 966 · Armenian · W.537

The priest Sargis finished copying this book, as its colophon says, in the year 415 of the Armenian calendar — 966. It is the oldest Armenian manuscript in North America. The text is written in large angular capitals; the paintings are few and bold: the last two canon tables, the Virgin and Child, a cross before Matthew, and the Evangelists standing in pairs where one Gospel ends and the next begins.

All pages of the manuscript at OPenn

6 pages

Pages

fol. 1r · A canon table under two arches, with birds above. Canon tables, devised by Eusebius of Caesarea in the 4th century, list in columns the numbered passages that two, three or all four Gospels share, so that a reader could find the same story in each Gospel.Walters Art Museum · W.537 · CC0
fol. 1v · The last canon table, with doves facing each other above the arches. Its columns list the passages that only one Gospel tells.Walters Art Museum · W.537 · CC0
fol. 2r · The Virgin with the Child on her knees, under a tall pointed arch. Beside her head the angel’s greeting from Luke is written in Armenian. The figures are flat and frontal, drawn with a few strong lines.Walters Art Museum · W.537 · CC0
Luke 1:28The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
fol. 3r · A great cross of interlaced bands and roundels, painted before the Gospel of Matthew — a page of pure ornament that opens the Gospels. The round red stamps were added by later owners.Walters Art Museum · W.537 · CC0
fol. 72v · The last lines of Matthew’s Gospel, and below them Matthew and Mark side by side under an arch, each holding his book. Here the Evangelists are not painted at the start of their Gospels but together, at the turn from one to the next.Walters Art Museum · W.537 · CC0
fol. 114v · The end of Mark’s Gospel: Mark and Luke stand under an arch, two peacocks face each other below, and birds perch on the arch. The checked and zigzag robes are typical of this simple local style.Walters Art Museum · W.537 · CC0