Publicação
Between Tradition and Innovation: An Interdisciplinary Approach in the Study of Seventeenth-Century Armenian Manuscripts
| Resumo: | Illuminated manuscripts are among the most exquisite objects of cultural heritage. The captivating charm of their colors and the beauty of the illuminations invite the reader to absorb the visual and textual delights. The intricate structure of bookbinding and precious materials involved in the production of the manuscripts make them works of great complexi-ty. As such, a detailed knowledge of the materials and techniques implemented in their mak-ing process is required to design a sustainable conservation, tailored to their needs. For the first time, a group of Armenian illuminated manuscripts dated to the seven-teenth century and housed in the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon were studied with an in-terdisciplinary approach. The codices studied were a Bible (LA 152) and three Gospel Books (LA 193, 216, 253). The spiritual, cultural, and political identity of Armenian communities is revealed in these codices. These were investigated with specific methodologies from the His-tory of Art, History and Technology of Artistic Production, and Conservation Science. The understanding of tradition and innovation in the art of these manuscripts will allow the de-velopment of better strategies for the conservation of this precious heritage. A comprehensive examination of the context and background of the Armenian man-uscripts revealed entangled connections in their production, ownership, and further acquisi-tion. These manuscripts represent a peculiar map of the last Armenian scriptoria within the networks of seventeenth-century Armenian trade communities of Constantinople, New Jul-fa, and Crimea, emphasizing the dynamic circulation of people, commodities, and ideas be-tween these economically prospering centers. As a product of the period when printed books were widely in use, these handwritten and illuminated codices earned more significance. Their leather binding, uniform text, and brilliant colors applied in ornaments and full-page miniatures are evidence of the high mastery and tradition established in Armenian scriptoria over the centuries. The art of illuminations reflects the choices towards medieval Armenian art. At the same time, some miniatures reflect distinct inspiration sources for local artists and indicate the geography of Armenian global connections spanned between the West and the East, from the medieval to early modern period. The study of the color paints at the molecular level and their state of conservation was central. In the first phase, this investigation focused on formulations based on cochineal dyes, the colors of which vary from translucent pink to purple, passing through various shades of red and carmine; these colors may have been used in the illuminations of Armeni-an manuscripts. Several texts were explored in search of lost know-how to prepare these colors based on Armenian cochineal (Porphyrophora hamelii), collected in distant lands of Ararat; these were compared with the colors obtained using the American cochineal (Dacty-lopius coccus). The historical Armenian recipes selected for reproduction reveal unique pro-duction methods that will pave the way for further discussion. Material analyses were extended toward the complete characterization of paint and ink formulations of seventeenth-century Armenian manuscripts from the Gulbenkian collection. Technical examination has shown the use of a medieval palette based on inorganic pigments such as lapis lazuli, minium, vermilion, orpiment, indigo, two different greens (vergaut and malachite), lead white and carbon black. The very important reds and pinks are possibly based on carminic acid. In the first phase, the characterization was based on a multi-analytical approach: Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy in the visible (FORS), Raman mi-crospectroscopy (μRaman), and Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence microspectroscopy (μEDXRF). The characterization of organic pigments based on cochineal will be comple-mented by microspectrofluorimetry in the visible and Fourier Transform Infrared microspec-troscopy (μFTIR). The luxurious palette of Gulbenkian's Armenian manuscripts reflects a profound rele-vance to medieval tradition rigorously maintained in the early modern scriptoria and pro-claims the aesthetic choices of seventeenth-century Armenian diaspora elites. |
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| Autores principais: | Grigoryan, Hermine |
| Assunto: | Armenian manuscripts Gulbenkian Museum illuminations the art of diaspora colophons Armenian cochineal |
| Ano: | 2023 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | tese de doutoramento |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso aberto |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| Resumo: | Illuminated manuscripts are among the most exquisite objects of cultural heritage. The captivating charm of their colors and the beauty of the illuminations invite the reader to absorb the visual and textual delights. The intricate structure of bookbinding and precious materials involved in the production of the manuscripts make them works of great complexi-ty. As such, a detailed knowledge of the materials and techniques implemented in their mak-ing process is required to design a sustainable conservation, tailored to their needs. For the first time, a group of Armenian illuminated manuscripts dated to the seven-teenth century and housed in the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon were studied with an in-terdisciplinary approach. The codices studied were a Bible (LA 152) and three Gospel Books (LA 193, 216, 253). The spiritual, cultural, and political identity of Armenian communities is revealed in these codices. These were investigated with specific methodologies from the His-tory of Art, History and Technology of Artistic Production, and Conservation Science. The understanding of tradition and innovation in the art of these manuscripts will allow the de-velopment of better strategies for the conservation of this precious heritage. A comprehensive examination of the context and background of the Armenian man-uscripts revealed entangled connections in their production, ownership, and further acquisi-tion. These manuscripts represent a peculiar map of the last Armenian scriptoria within the networks of seventeenth-century Armenian trade communities of Constantinople, New Jul-fa, and Crimea, emphasizing the dynamic circulation of people, commodities, and ideas be-tween these economically prospering centers. As a product of the period when printed books were widely in use, these handwritten and illuminated codices earned more significance. Their leather binding, uniform text, and brilliant colors applied in ornaments and full-page miniatures are evidence of the high mastery and tradition established in Armenian scriptoria over the centuries. The art of illuminations reflects the choices towards medieval Armenian art. At the same time, some miniatures reflect distinct inspiration sources for local artists and indicate the geography of Armenian global connections spanned between the West and the East, from the medieval to early modern period. The study of the color paints at the molecular level and their state of conservation was central. In the first phase, this investigation focused on formulations based on cochineal dyes, the colors of which vary from translucent pink to purple, passing through various shades of red and carmine; these colors may have been used in the illuminations of Armeni-an manuscripts. Several texts were explored in search of lost know-how to prepare these colors based on Armenian cochineal (Porphyrophora hamelii), collected in distant lands of Ararat; these were compared with the colors obtained using the American cochineal (Dacty-lopius coccus). The historical Armenian recipes selected for reproduction reveal unique pro-duction methods that will pave the way for further discussion. Material analyses were extended toward the complete characterization of paint and ink formulations of seventeenth-century Armenian manuscripts from the Gulbenkian collection. Technical examination has shown the use of a medieval palette based on inorganic pigments such as lapis lazuli, minium, vermilion, orpiment, indigo, two different greens (vergaut and malachite), lead white and carbon black. The very important reds and pinks are possibly based on carminic acid. In the first phase, the characterization was based on a multi-analytical approach: Fiber Optic Reflectance Spectroscopy in the visible (FORS), Raman mi-crospectroscopy (μRaman), and Energy Dispersive X-ray Fluorescence microspectroscopy (μEDXRF). The characterization of organic pigments based on cochineal will be comple-mented by microspectrofluorimetry in the visible and Fourier Transform Infrared microspec-troscopy (μFTIR). The luxurious palette of Gulbenkian's Armenian manuscripts reflects a profound rele-vance to medieval tradition rigorously maintained in the early modern scriptoria and pro-claims the aesthetic choices of seventeenth-century Armenian diaspora elites. |
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