Two Armenian manuscripts join the Getty collection

PanARMENIAN.Net - Two Armenian manuscripts have joined the Getty Museum's collection, according to a statement from the museum.

The first one is a 17th-c manuscript leaf depicting the arrival of the Christ child on earth. It was once part of a Gospel book made in 1615. Gospel books were among the most precious and revered manuscripts in medieval Armenia. These sacred texts were used during church services.

"In the early 20th century, the leaf was cut out of its original book, likely by an art dealer. However, we are now able to reunite it with the parent volume and a second detached leaf, which have been in Getty’s collection since 1983, and gain a renewed understanding of the manuscript as a whole," the Museum said.

The second acquisition is a 16th-c Gospel book illuminated by a brother and sister team, Ghoukas and Eghisabet. It is very rare for an Armenian manuscript to have a named female artist. It contains the four Gospels of the Christian bible.

The manuscript is richly illustrated. It begins with 20 full-page scenes from the life of Christ and the Old Testament. Also, it includes author portraits of the four evangelist portraits, one at the beginning of each Gospel.

Together, the two new acquisitions bring Getty’s Armenian manuscripts collection to seven.