Mesrop, Matenadaran and the Digital Revolution

Sargsyan: You would visit the AMI website! We have produced the first-ever digitally illustrated website of Medieval and Early Modern Armenian manuscript illumination systems or programs through a comparative table representing the text with its miniature(s). This work was made possible by the Institutional hosting of the Matenadaran and a research grant provided in 2021-2022 by the Armenian National Science and Education Fund (ANSEF) based in New York. The AMI Project contains in its database a selection of illuminated manuscripts from the four largest collections of Armenian manuscripts in the world: The Matenadaran Research Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Yerevan, The St. Theodoros Library and Treasury at St. James Armenian Cathedral in Jerusalem, the Mekhitarist Libraries in Venice and Vienna.

With this, our first initiative, the Project has presented nine illuminated Gospel manuscripts stretching over a long chronological span, from the 9th to the 17th centuries. It also features a map illustrating the geographical development of Armenian manuscript illumination, covering historical Armenia, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, and Armenian communities throughout the diaspora. The choice of the manuscripts was based on the specific role that each of them has played in the establishment and development of the illumination program of the Armenian Gospels.

AMS: How would I begin to study a particular manuscript?

Sargsyan: First, you would look at the data available on that manuscript: a brief physical description of each Gospel is given, as well as colophon extracts that provide information about the creation of the manuscript. A brief commentary on the illumination program and artistic features of each manuscript is also provided. To enter these data, the project team used available literature (catalogues of manuscripts, monographs, articles), internet resources (if any), and in some cases archival documents. Sources are listed in the bibliography.

AMS: That is the concept governing the website; how do I as a visitor/user proceed step by step?

Sargsyan: You would choose between two main search areas: Advanced search (separately for “Table”, “Manuscript” and “Miniature”) and Quick search (entering a word or an inventory number, e.g. Jerusalem, 2568). The Advanced search for “Table” functions by browsing manuscript title and text/Gospel reading (e.g. Gospel, Matthew 1:10, 1st chapter, verse 10), for “Manuscript” by browsing: library, inventory number, century or year, place, scribe, script, miniaturist, patron, owner (e. g. Venice, Mekhitarist Congregation Library 1917, 14th, Syunik, Sargis, Toros Taronatsi, bolorgir, vardapet Davit, Esayi Nchetsi), and for “Miniature” by browsing the title of the miniature, manuscript, folio, type and text/Gospel reading (e.g. Annunciation to Mary, Vienna, Mekhitarist Congregation Library 242, 121r, ornamental heading, Luke 1:24).

This kind of general description (with some similarities or differences) of each manuscript and its miniatures is often present on the websites of digitized manuscripts.

AMS: Then what distinguishes the AMI from preexisting digital study tools in this area of research?

Sargsyan: The special feature of the AMI Project is the comparison of illustrated pages from different manuscripts corresponding to the text, with the use of search tools: Gospel verses, Bible verses, Hymnal Canons, Lectionary readings, etc. By comparison, take, for example, the Princeton University Index of Medieval Art (https://theindex.princeton.edu/), which represents the largest archive of medieval art in the world, including illuminated manuscripts. The browsing list consists of 15 multifunctional tools, but without the correspondence of text and image as in the AMI Project (Gospel reading and miniature) with its comparative table.

AMS: Why are comparative manuscripts important?

Sargsyan: There are many project websites that display Armenian digitized manuscripts from various collections: these are scanned copies of manuscripts, or digitized catalogues usually with limited information on each manuscript or its miniatures. But they do not provide answers to any specific issue in manuscript art study.

The comparative analysis we provide through the AMI, on the contrary, raises a number of research questions. For example, what similarities and differences can be observed among 14th-century Armenian Gospel illumination produced in Cilicia, Vaspurakan, and Syunik? How did regional artistic traditions influence the selection and arrangement of illuminated cycles? It enables scholars to trace the development of illumination programs of Armenian manuscripts across centuries, and to examine the contribution of individual artistic schools and masters. It also enables users to explore a wide range of detailed research questions, such as the recurrence of specific marginal ornaments accompanying the same verse or reading across different illuminated Gospel manuscripts.

AMS: How has the AMI Project been received?

Sargsyan: Following the launch, I received very positive feedback from my colleagues — including international scholars — and students, who use the website data in their research. The Project was also presented at the First International Armenology Congress in a paper entitled “From Tradition to Innovation: New Approaches in Armenian Manuscript Studies,” held at the Matenadaran, July 19-22, 2024. The presentation generated considerable interest and received strong encouragement from specialists in the field, who recognized the Project’s scholarly value and potential. Subsequently, several distinguished scholars expressed their support for the initiative; among them, Dr. Christina Maranci, Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University, and Dr. Ioanna Rapti of the École Pratique des Hautes Études joined the Scientific Council of the AMI Project. Their participation brings additional expertise and further strengthens the Project’s international research network.

AMS: Where does the AMI stand today? What are your plans for the future?

Sargsyan: I am pleased to announce that this year the Project has been awarded a grant from the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and the Collaborative Heritage Management grant by the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). These grants will enable us to expand our database with new illuminated manuscripts from the collections of the Matenadaran and the Mekhitarist Libraries of Venice and Vienna. The funding will also support the development of the website’s search tools, maintenance, and IT services.

Thanks to the generous cooperation of the conservators at all three repositories, the database will be enriched with more than ten times more illustrated manuscript pages then are currently displayed on the website. In this regard, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Directorate of the Matenadaran, especially Director Dr. Ara Khzmalyan and Deputy Director Dr. Vahe Torosyan, Head of the Medieval Art Studies Department Dr. Nazenie Garibian, as well as to Father Vahan Vardapet Ohanean of the Mekhitarist Congregation of Venice, for their invaluable support and collaboration. The AMI team’s research trip to the Mekhitarist Library in Vienna is coming up very soon, in the second half of August.

And, the Project’s team has continued to grow. Art historians Lusine Barseghyan and Siranush Beglaryan from the Matenadaran, together with Dr. Erin Piñon of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence – Max Planck Institute, have also joined.

I see the future of the AMI Project not only in enriching its database with new manuscripts (by expanding collaboration with other repositories of Armenian manuscripts around the world) and developing advanced search tools (including AI-based methods), but also in addressing a specific scholarly challenge in the study of Armenian manuscript art – the very challenge for which this digital database was conceived.

In the long term, this work will contribute to generating a series of scholarly volumes dedicated to Armenian manuscript illumination programs. I envision this series organized according to manuscript content – such as Gospels, Bibles, Hymnals (Sharaknots), Ritual Books, Psalters, Lectionaries (Chashots), and other categories. Each volume (for example, The Illumination Program of Armenian Hymnals) would present the manuscripts in chronological order, reflecting the historical formation and development of their illumination programs over time.

To summarize, the AMI Project is not merely the creation of a digital database. Rather, it poses new research questions, proposes original approaches to answering them through digital scholarship, and ultimately lays the foundation for a comprehensive printed series on the illumination programs of Armenian manuscripts. As Principal Investigator of the AMI Project, I believe that the realization of this ambitious vision requires collaborative, interdisciplinary teamwork involving specialists from both Armenia (first and foremost from the Matenadaran) and the international scholarly community.

To learn more about this project, visit https://armenoids.com/