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Walters Ms. W.545, Hymnal

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Shelf mark

W.545


Manuscript

Hymnal


Text title
Hymnal

Vernacular: Շարակնոց


Abstract

This Armenian hymnal was created in the late-seventeenth or early eighteenth century. Although no colophons are recorded in the manuscript, the name of the scribe, Awēt, appears on fol. 11r. This may be the same Awēt whose work is recorded elsewhere in manuscripts produced at the Monastery of Surb Amenap'rkič in New Julfa, Isfahan (Iran). The four miniatures depicting Joachim and Anna, Adam and Eve, the Resurrection of Christ, and Pentecost represent familiarity with European pictorial traditions. They appear to have been retouched after the original paint began to flake off. The head-pieces for canon divisions and the marginal decoration are based on earlier Armenian models. The small size of this hymnal suggests that it was used privately when participating in the Armenian liturgy.


Date

Late 17th or 18th century CE


Origin

Possibly Monastery of Surb Amenap'rkič in New Julfa, Isfahan, Iran


Scribe

As-written name: Awēt

Known as: Awetis

Known as: Avetis


Form

Book


Genre

Devotional

Liturgical


Language:

The primary language in this manuscript is Armenian.


Support material

Parchment

Very thin, almost transparent calfskin, carefully selected and prepared, with very few blemishes; moderate curling of the folio leaves; lower folio corners are stained from handling; first and last folios have been torn considerably; first thirty-two folios stained at the top edges with what appears to be black ink; no pastedowns used on inside boards, leaving the wood exposed


Extent

Foliation: i+373

Foliation marked in pencil in upper right corners, rectos; fol. 373 is marked as 443


Collation

Formula: 1(12), 2(12), 3(12), 4(12), 5(12), 6(12), 7(12), 8(12), 9(12), 10(12), 11(12), 12(14,-9), 13(12), 14(12), 15(14,-3), 16(12), 17(12), 18(12), 19(12), 20(12), 21(12), 22(12,-10), 23(12), 24(12), 25(12), 26(12), 27(12), 28(12), 29(12), 30(18,-6), 31(10,-1,-3)

Catchwords: None

Signatures: None

Comments: First folios of each quire on fols. i, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, 96, 108, 120, 132, 145, 157, 169, 182, 194, 206, 218, 230, 242, 254, 265, 277, 259, 301, 313, 325, 337, 349, 366; last two quires of the book were added later


Dimensions

8.0 cm wide by 11.0 cm high


Written surface

4.5 cm wide by 7.0 cm high


Layout
  1. Columns: 1
  2. Ruled lines: 21

Contents:
fols. 1r - 373v:
  1. Title: Hymnal
  2. Scribe: Awēt
  3. Hand note: Bolorgir
  4. Decoration note: Four full-page polychrome miniatures and nine decorated head-pieces for principal canon divisions; marginal decorations with floral and faunal motifs appear beside individual canons; decorated initials in red, blue, and yellow pigment; rubrics in red; text in black ink
fols. 1v - 11r:
  1. Title: Canon of the Birth of the Virgin
  2. Scribe: Awēt
  3. Decoration note: One full-page miniature, one head-piece, and marginal decorations marking individual canons
fols. 11v - 57v:
  1. Title: Canon of the Eve of Theophany
  2. Scribe: Awēt
  3. Decoration note: One full-page miniature, one head-piece, and marginal decorations marking individual canons
fols. 58r - 136r:
  1. Title: Canon of Shrove Tuesday
  2. Scribe: Awēt
  3. Decoration note: One full-page miniature, one head-piece, and marginal decorations marking individual canons
fols. 137v - 186r:
  1. Title: Canon of the Resurrection
  2. Scribe: Awēt
  3. Decoration note: One full-page miniature, one head-piece, and marginal decorations marking individual canons
fols. 186v - 234v:
  1. Title: Canon of Pentecost
  2. Scribe: Awēt
  3. Decoration note: One full-page miniature, one head-piece, and marginal decorations marking individual canons
fols. 235r - 288v:
  1. Title: Canon of the Eve of the Holy Cross
  2. Scribe: Awēt
  3. Decoration note: One head-piece and marginal decorations marking individual canons
fols. 289r - 309r:
  1. Title: Canon of All the Martyrs
  2. Scribe: Awēt
  3. Decoration note: One head-piece and marginal decorations marking individual canons
fols. 309v - 333v:
  1. Title: Canon of All the Dead
  2. Scribe: Awēt
  3. Decoration note: One head-piece and marginal decorations marking individual canons
fols. 334r - 373v:
  1. Title: Canon of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ
  2. Scribe: Awēt
  3. Decoration note: One head-piece and marginal decorations marking individual canons

Decoration:

fol. 1v:

  1. W.545, fol. 1v
  2. Title: Joachim and Anna
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Canon of the Birth of the Virgin

fol. 2r:

  1. W.545, fol. 2r
  2. Title: Head-piece for the Canon of the Birth of the Virgin
  3. Form: Decorative frame, incipit, and marginal ornament
  4. Text: Canon of the Birth of the Virgin

fol. 11v:

  1. W.545, fol. 11v
  2. Title: Head-piece for the Canon of the Eve of Theophany
  3. Form: Head-piece and marginal decoration
  4. Text: Canon of the Eve of Theophany

fol. 57v:

  1. W.545, fol. 57v
  2. Title: Adam and Eve
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Canon of Shrove Tuesday

fol. 58r:

  1. W.545, fol. 58r
  2. Title: Head-piece for the Canon of Shrove Tuesday
  3. Form: Head-piece and marginal decoration
  4. Text: Canon of Shrove Tuesday

fol. 137v:

  1. W.545, fol. 137v
  2. Title: Resurrection
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Canon of the Resurrection

fol. 138r:

  1. W.545, fol. 138r
  2. Title: Head-piece for the Canon of the Resurrection
  3. Form: Head-piece, incipit, and marginal decoration
  4. Text: Canon of the Resurrection

fol. 186v:

  1. W.545, fol. 186v
  2. Title: Pentecost
  3. Form: Full-page miniature
  4. Text: Canon of Pentecost

fol. 187r:

  1. W.545, fol. 187r
  2. Title: Head-piece for the Canon of Pentecost
  3. Form: Head-piece, incipit, and marginal decoration
  4. Text: Canon of Pentecost

fol. 235r:

  1. W.545, fol. 235r
  2. Title: Head-piece for the Canon of the Eve of the Holy Cross
  3. Form: Head-piece and marginal decoration
  4. Text: Canon of the Eve of the Holy Cross

fol. 289r:

  1. W.545, fol. 289r
  2. Title: Head-piece for the Canon of All the Martyrs
  3. Form: Head-piece and marginal decoration
  4. Text: Canon of All the Martyrs

fol. 309v:

  1. W.545, fol. 309v
  2. Title: Head-piece for the Canon of All the Dead
  3. Form: Head-piece and marginal decoration
  4. Text: Canon of All the Dead

fol. 334r:

  1. W.545, fol. 334r
  2. Title: Head-piece for the Canon of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ
  3. Form: Head-piece and marginal decoration
  4. Text: Canon of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Binding

The binding is original.

Reddish-brown morocco binding over wooden boards (no lining); upper cover had two catches (the lower one is now missing) and lower cover had two leather straps that attached to the catches (both straps are now missing but their stubs remain, along with the four metal pins with imprinted stars that held them in place); upper and lower boards decorated with blind-tooled quatrefoil floral motif in the center and four additional floral motifs in the corners of a rectangular frame; spine is undecorated with four ribs


Provenance

Produced in the late seventeenth or eighteenth century, possibly at the Monastery of Surb Amenap'rkič in New Julfa, Isfahan, Iran, by the scribe Awēt (or Awetis)

Henry Walters, Baltimore, purchased between 1895 and 1931


Acquisition

Walters Art Museum, 1931, by Henry Walters' bequest


Bibliography

Thanks are expressed to Professor Bernard Coulie (Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve) for kindly making available his bibliography on the Armenian manuscripts kept in the Walters Art Museum.

De Ricci, Seymour. Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada. Vol. 1. New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1935; p. 762, cat. no. 32.

(In Armenian) Tēr-Awetisean, Smbat, and L. G. Minasean. Catalogue of the Armenian Manuscripts in the All-Saviour Monastery at New Julfa. 2 vols. Vienna: 1970, 1972; vol. 1, cat. nos. 152, 267, 269, 270, 277, 303, 306, 314, 337, 584; vol. 2, cat. no. 174.

Der Nersessian, Sirarpie. Armenian Manuscripts in the Walters Art Gallery. Baltimore: Trustees of the Walters Art Gallery, 1973; pp. 83-84, cat. no. XI, plates 242-243.

Sanjian, Avedis K. A Catalogue of Medieval Armenian Manuscripts in the United States. University of California Publications, Near Eastern Studies 16. Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976; pp. 332-333, cat. no. 65.


Contributors

Principal catalogers: Der Nersessian, Sirarpie; Landau, Amy; van Lint, Theo M

Cataloger: Dennis, Nathan S

Editor: Herbert, Lynley

Copy editor: Dibble, Charles

Conservators: Owen, Linda; Quandt, Abigail

Contributors: Bockrath, Diane; Dennis, Nathan S; Emery, Doug; Noel, William; Tabritha, Ariel; Toth, Michael B.


Publisher

The Walters Art Museum


License

Licensed for use under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Access Rights, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/legalcode. It is requested that copies of any published articles based on the information in this data set be sent to the curator of manuscripts, The Walters Art Museum, 600 North Charles Street, Baltimore MD 21201.