The Four Gospels in Armenian

£175,000 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

copied for Minas Vardepet and bound in silver This manuscript is one of the finest to survive from the School of Constantinople in the 17th century. Apart from the cycle of full-page miniatures, canon tables and Evangelist portraits there are over 110 marginal scenes of the Life of Christ. The decoration, which seems to be by two artists, is all of very high quality and executed in bright radiant colours. It closely resembles a Four Gospels once in the Marquess of Bute's collection, now British Library Or. Ms. 14161.' The Armenian inscription on the lower front cover reads 'Xacatourean Eagoup' (Khachatourian Yakop); probably the silversmith who executed the work, most likely at Tokat. According to the principal colophon on folios 245-246 the receiver of the manuscript, Minas Vardapet, had it 'bound in silver' in 1675 before presenting it to the Holy Church of the Virgin Mary in Ankuri (Konya) in Anatolia. Each cover is overlaid with a heavy silver plaque in repoussé, with a silver chain spine and silver clasps shaped like arms and hands. The front cover with figures in relief shows the Resurrection. The back cover shows the Crucifixion: Christ on the cross, the figures of the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene on either side, above them the sun and moon in the form of human faces, and a round, bearded head at the base of the cross representing the skull of Golgotha. The borders are formed of grapevine. The initials YNT'H (Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews) are inscribed above. B

• Binding: Hardcover

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