Creative Commons License
Leaf from Gospels
(Manuscripts and Rare Books)
This Gospel book was copied by Mik'ayel, one of the foremost scribes of his time, and donated to the church of St. Stephen in memory of a prince, Khan Sultan. The text is written on paper, a medium that was becoming more common during this period, in a script known as bolorgir (Armenian minuscule). A portrait of St. Matthew introduces the text of his Gospel. A winged man, Matthew's symbol, appears before the Evangelist as if to inspire his writing.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Written by the scribe Mik'ayel, 1115 (=A.D. 1666) [see colophon fol. 126r]; Church of St. Stephen, Tokat, Armenia [on deposit as a memorial for Khan Sult'an, his father T'at'os, his mother Ghimat', his brother T'oros, and his sons Sahak' and Abraham (see notice on fol. 254r)]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1926 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Armenia, Tokat (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Folio H: 7 3/4 × W: 5 1/2 in. (19.7 × 14 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
W.544.17R
