T'oros Roslin Gospels

This manuscript was made in 1262 by Toros Roslin, the celebrated illuminator who extended the iconographic repertoire by defining a narrative Gospel cycle beyond the traditional portraits of the Evangelists. This signed manuscript was created at the scriptorium of Hromkla, which became the leading artistic center of Armenian Cilicia under the rule of Catholicos Constantine I (1221-1267). As an extensive colophon starting on fol. 406v explains, Toros created this manuscript under commission from the nephew of Constantine, a priest also named Toros. It is one of seven known manuscripts bearing Toros Roslins signature, and it is the most sumptuous of them all, with 15 miniatures and 67 smaller illustrations. The style of the images suggests that Toros had several assistants helping with the illustrations, though the overall quality remains extremely high. The manuscript was long cherished within the Armenian church. Even in the seventeenth century, its illumination served as a model for Armenian scribes, particularly Bargham and his son Mikayel; see Jerusalem, Armenian Patriarchate, no. 3438 and Washington DC, Freer Gallery, Ms. 36.15; in the latter manuscript, Mikayel explicitly refers to the excellent scribe Toros, surnamed Roslin.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Copied and illuminated by priest T'oros Roslin, nephew of the catholicos Constantine I, Hromkla (modern Rumkale, Türkiye), 1262; Hermitage of Ark'-akaghin, Cilicia, Armenia, 1262, by gift [with Bishop Sion as intermediary]. Ter Tiratur, Sebastia (modern Sivas, Türkiye), 1604, by gift. Church of the Holy Virgin, Sebastia (modern Sivas, Türkiye), by 1626, [mode of acquisition unknown] [1]. Church of the Surb Nishan (Holy Cross), Sebastia (modern Sivas, Türkiye), by 1881, by transfer [2]. Dikran Kelekian, Paris and New York, by 1929, [mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, by 1929, by purchase [3]; Sadie Jones [Mrs. Henry Walters], New York, 1931, by bequest; Walters Art Museum, 1935, by gift.

[1] Rebound in that church in 1643.

[2] Recorded in this location in 1886 and 1904. Seen at the monastery ca. 1914 by the Armenian archbishop (probably Karekin Hovsepian). The location of the manuscript is unknown between 1914 and 1931, and it may have been removed from Armenian territory at some point during World War I and the Armenian Genocide.

[3] Letters in the Walters Art Museum Archives about this manuscript note that Dikran Kelekian sold the manuscript to Henry Walters in Paris in 1926, 1928, or 1929. It remained in the Walters’ personal collection until it was gifted to the Walters Art Gallery in 1935 by Mrs. Walters.