The Armenian Gospels of Gladzor is an exhibition catalogue featuring the deluxe fourteenth-century manuscript of the same name from the Young Research Library at UCLA. This exhibition coincided with the celebration in 2001 of the seventeen-hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Armenian Church and with the conservation of the Gladzor Gospels in which it was disbound, offering a unique opportunity to view its Canon Tables, Evangelist portraits, incipit pages, marginalia, and fifty-four narrative miniatures. The manuscript derives its name from the Gladzor monastery in Greater Armenia where the manuscript was completed

Maxwell, Kathleen

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Santa Clara UniversityScholar CommonsArt and Art History College of Arts & Sciences8-18-2002Mathews and Taylor, Armenian Gospels of GladzorKathleen MaxwellSanta Clara University, kmaxwell@scu.eduFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.scu.edu/a_ahPart of the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, and the Other HistoryCommonsThis is a copy of the original article as published in the journal The Medieval Review, with permission of the journal.This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Arts & Sciences at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusionin Art and Art History by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact rscroggin@scu.edu.Recommended CitationMaxwell, Kathleen. Review of Thomas F. Mathews and Alice Taylor, The Armenian Gospels of Gladzor: The Life of Christ Illuminated( J. Paul Getty Museum, 2001) for The Medieval Review (on-line; August 30, 2002).The Medieval Review 02.08.18Mathews, Thomas F. and Alice Taylor. The Armenian Gospels of Gladzor: The Life of Christ Illuminated. Los Angeles: J. PaulGetty Museum, 2001. Pp. 120. $39.95 0-89236-626-5. ISBN: $24.95 0-89236-627-3.Reviewed by:Kathleen MaxwellKMaxwell@scu.eduThe Armenian Gospels of Gladzor is an exhibition catalogue featuring the deluxe fourteenth-century manuscript of the samename from the Young Research Library at UCLA. This exhibition coincided with the celebration in 2001 of the seventeen-hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the Armenian Church and with the conservation of the Gladzor Gospels in whichit was disbound, offering a unique opportunity to view its Canon Tables, Evangelist portraits, incipit pages, marginalia, and fifty-four narrative miniatures. The manuscript derives its name from the Gladzor monastery in Greater Armenia where themanuscript was completed. It was given to UCLA by Dr. Caro Minasian in 1968 and ranks as one of the finest Armenianillustrated manuscripts in America. The authors are ideally positioned to write this text. Prof. Mathews previously co-authored ascholarly monograph on the Gladzor Gospels with the late Prof. Avedis K.Sanjian entitled Armenian Gospel Iconography: TheTradition of the Glajor Gospel (Washington, D.C., 1991). Prof. Taylor has also written Book Arts of Isfahan: Diversity andIdentity in Seventeenth-Century Persia (Malibu, 1995) for the Getty. The text of the exhibition catalogue is short (35 pages), butambitious in its coverage of the complex social, political, and religious fabric of thirteenth- and fourteen-century Armenia.Chapter One: Making an Illuminated Manuscript provides a context for Armenian manuscript production and introduces thereader to some of the defining characteristics of Armenian society and its unique form of Christianity. We learn that theArmenians converted to Christianity in 301, but that they broke with the Roman and Greek Churches in 451 (Council ofChalcedon) over the nature of Christ. The Armenians believe that the divine and human natures of Christ are inseparable, whilethe Roman and Greek churches hold that they remain distinct and unconfused in Christ (p. 13). Thereafter, the Armenians (andothers) were referred to as Monophysites as opposed to the Duophysites (Greeks, and eventually, the Roman Catholics). Theauthors then turn to the singular status of the medieval illustrated manuscript. Its sacred and unchanging Gospel text iscontrasted with its narrative illustrations. The illustrations of Christ's life were open to varying interpretations depending uponthe cultural landscape in which they were produced. The Gladzor narrative illustrations, the authors argue, reflect theirfourteenth-century social, political, and monastic contexts (p. 15) and they are the focus of this catalogue. Chapter Onecontinues with a discussion of what is known about the Gladzor Gospels. Two names are found in an inscription on page 227within an illustration of the Second Storm at Sea. T'oros of Taron, the most famous artist associated with the Gladzormonastery, begs the Abbot Yesayi (of Nich) to remember him, his unworthy disciple. We also learn that three quarters of theillustrations of the Gladzor Gospels interrupt their Gospel text at precisely the same point as the illustrations of the earlyeleventh-century Vehap'ar Gospels. In some cases, the Gladzor miniatures replicate those of its earlier model. A debt to theArmenian manuscripts of Cilicia is also acknowledged by the authors in the decoration of the Canon Tables, Evangelistportraits, and non-figural decoration of the Gladzor Gospels. This chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the varioushands responsible for the miniatures and a description of their stylistic characteristics. Only T'oros of Taron signed themanuscript, however, and the authors conclude that he worked on it early in his career, probably before 1307. A later colophonof 1377 indicates that the manuscript was made at Gladzor, but the authors believe that the manuscript was probably initiatedat another monastery. Chapter Two situates the Armenian monastery in its cultural and political environment. Like their westerncounterparts, Armenian monasteries were not isolated from the outside world. Armenians were more often than not subject toothers whether Seljuks, Georgians, or Mongols. The inherent flexibility of the nakharar system, the nobility who enjoyedhereditary rights to their lands, allowed them to direct their service to non-Armenian kings. The nakharar lords also supportedthe monasteries (p.22) and it was there that some of the greatest writings of the age were produced. The intellectual tradition ofthe monks is revealed by the fact that the three great Armenian histories written in the thirteenth century are all by monks(p.25). Moreover, some sixty-nine manuscripts can be associated specifically with the Gladzor monastery. One third areGospels and Bibles. There are also a few classical texts, but the majority are theological texts and most of these are exegeticalin nature (p. 28). The two most important vardapets (religious teachers of highest rank) associated with Gladzor, Nerses ofMush and Yesayi of Nich, authored commentaries on books of the Old Testament.With the foundations of Armenian medieval culture laid out in Chapters One and Two, Chapter Three, the most important of all,turns to the narrative illustrations of Christ's life. Here the authors argue for the purely Armenian character of these illustrations,underlining the impact of Armenian exegetical texts by authors like Nerses and Yesayi, upon the illustrations of the GladzorGospels. T'oros and Yesayi also worked together with another exegete, John of Yerzinka, who wrote a Commentary on theGospel According to Saint Matthew. This text allows the authors to make important connections between contemporaryexegesis and the Gladzor illustrations. Other influential earlier Armenian literary sources are also noted including commentariesof Saints John Chrysostom and Ephrem the Syrian, as well as Armenian catechisms, hymns, and liturgical prayers. There isnot space in the authors' text to discuss all fifty-four miniatures, but they discern six larger themes within the narrative cycleand discuss several examples of each. These themes are as follows: The Divine Physician, The Human and Divine in Christ,Christ and the Church, Women in the Life of the Christ, The Church and the Nations, and Christ in the Rites of the ArmenianChurch. The illustration of the Crucifixion best exemplifies the spirit of Armenian faith, according to the authors. It is distinctlyArmenian in its emphasis on Christ as powerful even in death, reflecting, for example, liturgical hymns, an early Armeniancatechism called The Teaching of Saint Gregory the Illuminator, the Sunday hymn of the Resurrection, and a sermon text ofthe fourteenth century (p. 38). In addition, the illustration of the Crucifixion also reflects the Armenians' belief concerning thetwo natures of Christ. The illustration depicts separate streams of blood and water flowing from Christ's side. This supports theArmenian practice of serving unmixed wine in the Eucharist in contrast to the Roman and Greek practice of diluting theEucharistic wine with water. The authors write that "for Armenians the water and blood symbolize not the water mixed withwine in the chalice, as in the Roman Catholic interpretation, but the distinct sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist" (p. 46).Mathews and Taylor also note that the Armenians were under considerable pressure at this time from Roman Catholicmissionaries to conform to rituals dictated by Rome. In citing the numerous literary sources, both contemporary and older whichexercised a demonstrable influence on these illustrations, the authors remind those of us who specialize in illuminatedmanuscripts from other locales that we, too, must examine comparable sources in our research. Through such sources,Mathews and Taylor have recognized the rich and complex cultural fabric that can affect the illustration of even the best knowntexts. The Armenian Gospels of Gladzor offers a great deal to the reader at a modest price. The color illustrations are superband the text offers an excellent introduction to Armenian Gospel illustration. It doesn't truly serve as an introductory textbecause it raises a number of complex issues that space constrictions do not allow the authors to develop, but it is within reachof the motivated lay reader and will be a welcome addition to scholars' personal collections. I also recommend it for universitylibraries, particularly those that do not have Mathews' and Sanjians' scholarly volume from 1991 already in their collection. Ihave noted only a few minor flaws. The accessibility of the color plates is hampered by the fact that in the catalogue's indexthere are italicized page references to these plates for each scene. However, while the catalogue was in production, the pagenumbers on the color plates were omitted and therefore the index is less convenient than the authors had planned for it to be.The authors also provide a brief glossary (p. 114) that will be very helpful to those unfamiliar with medieval illustratedmanuscripts. However, they might have included "colophon" which they use without really defining it on p. 17. There is also anerror on p. 18 where the reader is referred to p. 119 rather than p. 120. On p. 32 there is a reference to Christ's disappearanceinto Heaven, for which I would have substituted "ascension" into Heaven. These are but minor quibbles. Scholars and novicesalike will be impressed with the complex underpinnings of Armenian Gospel illustration.

Mathews and Taylor, Armenian Gospels of Gladzor

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Mathews and Taylor, Armenian Gospels of Gladzor

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