The Entry into Jerusalem, Lectionary 1286, Cilicia Exact origin, name of scribe and illuminator unknown

The Three Hebrews in the Fiery Furnace, Lectionary 1286, Cilicia Exact origin, name of scribe and illuminator unknown

The middle of the thirteenth century marks the beginning of new creative searches by the Cilician miniature painters whose achievements at this time anticipate the forms developed by Byzantine art during the Third Golden Age.

Cilician artists of this period sought to break the constraints of medieval canons, to impart spatial depth to their pictures and to achieve volume and perspective in figural representation. The trend towards a realistic depiction of traditional scenes was fully developed by Toros Roslin.

Unfortunately, just as with the majority of painters of this time, we know very little about Roslin's life. According to the colophons of his manuscripts, he worked at Hromkla between 1250 and 1270 and was evidently the chief artist of the Patriarch's scriptorium. He must have been quite a celebrity, for he received commissions from the capital - from members of the royal family and courtiers. His popularity was undoubtedly also due to the patronage of the Catolicos Constantine I, one of the most educated persons in Cilicia.

One of the most remarkable manuscripts in the Matenadaran collection signed by Roslin is the so-called Malatian Gospels (after the town of Malatia) of 1268 (Ms. 10675). It is one of the last, and probably the best of Roslin's works. It was commissioned by the Catolicos Constantine I as a gift for Prince Hetoum, son of Leon III.

The art of Toros Roslin is both serene and magnificent; it combines quiet joyfulness with light melancholy. The elegant proportions of the figures, the strictly balanced composition, the ingenuity and variety of ornamentation, the impeccable taste and moderation in everything - in the colouring, decoration and choice of motifs inspired by real life - betray a genuinely classical master of a calibre which throughout the history of art is only found at the highest peaks of its development.

The art of Toros Roslin and of artists belonging to the same generation represented the classical period in the development of Cilician book illumination. The ensuing period which began some ten or fifteen years after the last known work by Roslin was marked by considerable changes in aesthetic principles, caused by changes in political and social life. The two last decades of the thirteenth century were also the end of the Golden Age of Cilicia, followed by a slow but steady decline. The increasingly frequent raids by the Egyptian Mamelukes (who in 1292 captured and plundered the monastery of Hromkla) created an atmosphere of alarm and apprehension in the country, which could not but tell on the art of this period.

Following Roslin, the artists of the 1280s introduce many details prompted by real life into canonical schemes; like their great predecessor, they seek to convey the feelings of their characters. But they "out-Roslin Roslin", as it were, in their pursuit of the true-to-life, and sometimes, in fact, distort the noble and lofty ideal created by him. The faces in the miniatures of this period are often crude, the figures elongated to the point of deformity, particularly if compared with the almost Hellenistic proportions of Toros Roslin's figures.

At the same time, their realistic depictions bring a dynamic and dramatic effect to the miniature, something Roslin’s carefully crafted work sacrificed to achieve a lofty and otherworldliness to his paintings. These are accessible scenes from the bible, filled with the horror, joy and human frailties of life.

The group of manuscripts, which includes the Lectionary of 1286 (Ms. 979), is represented in the Matenadaran by another example - the Gospels (Ms. 197) written in 1287 at Akhner by Bishop Hovhannes, brother of King Hetoum I.

The Matenadaran collection includes another Gospel manuscript dating from approximately the same period (Ms. 9422). The highly expressive character of this miniature is marked by it richly hued coloring. A wide range of pastel tints supports the combination of red, blue and gold, so typical of Cilician illumination.

The luxuriously embellished headpieces that mark the Cilician tradition is apparent in this sample from the 1280 Gospels.

The original colophon for the 1280 Gospels is unfortunately lost, but a later, fourteenth-century one survives and presents a dramatic record of the various mishaps that befell the book in the monastery of St. John the Forerunner in the town of Mush (Western Armenia).

In the middle of the fourteenth century the monks had to hide their most valuable manuscripts, including the Gospels in question, to save them from the invaders. When, many years later, the manuscripts were removed from their secret hiding-place, it turned out that many of them "had rotten away and were impossible to read". The monks buried the damaged books, but fortunately this became known to a certain deacon, Simeon, who gave orders to have them dug up and hired an expert to restore them. After restoration the books were returned to the monastery. Surprisingly enough, the Cilician Gospels which was among those manuscripts still retains a remarkable freshness of paint and much of the brilliancy of its rich iridescent colors.

Another outstanding Cilician manuscript in the Matenadaran collection is the Gospels traditionally referred to as the "Gospels by Eight Masters"21 (Ms. 7651).

The character of its illumination differs from the traditional Armenian book painting, particularly with regard to the arrangement of illustrations and ornaments. There are no full-page miniatures; they are incorporated into the text, forming frieze-like bands - a method rarely used by Armenian painters and in this case evidently due to Byzantine influence.

The manuscript was written in the late thirteenth century by the celebrated Cilician calligrapher Avetis who apparently worked in the city of Sis. It was then turned over to a team of painters for illumination, though for some reason or other the work was not completed. The subsequent history of the Gospels is known thanks to a colophon left by its second owner - Stepanos, bishop of Sebastia - who received the book as a gift from King Oshin.

The colophon reads: "I, the worthless Stepanos, bishop of the town of Sebastia, a lost shepherd and the poor author [of these notes] set forth to the God-protected country of Cilicia on a pilgrimage to the relics of St. Gregory. There I met with an honorable reception and respect from the Patriarch Constantine and King Oshin. And the devout King Oshin wished to honor me, the worthless one, with a gift, and I, refusing all things vain, expressed the wish to possess a book of Gospels.

And on the King's orders I entered the palace treasury where the holy books were kept, and when I saw them my heart rejoiced at this book, which was written in a beautiful cursive hand and adorned with many-colored pictures, but which was not complete in its illustration, with some pictures merely outlined, and still more entirely blank.

 

And take the manuscript I did, with great joy, and started to search for a skilful artist, and found a devout clergyman Sargis, called Pidzak, who was experienced in art. And I gave him 1300 drachmae of my righteous earnings, and he undertook to complete the unfinished pictures and decorate them with gilding, which he did with great skill and care, and I, having received the completed manuscript, rejoiced in my heart. And all this came to pass in the year 769 [1320] by the Armenian calendar, at a time of trouble, evil and misfortunes of which I find it unnecessary to write ... "

Sarkis Pidzak was the last prominent figure in Cilician book painting. In 1375 Sis, the capital of Cilicia, fell to the armies of the Sultan of Egypt, which meant the end of Cilician Armenia and, consequently, the end of Cilician Armenian culture.