ECA 7 (2010), p. 59-70; doi: 10.2143 / ECA.7.0.0000000 Byzantine, Syriac, Armenian and Latin A Note on Artistic Interaction in Eastern Mediterranean Manuscripts Maja KOMINKO Whereas in the past scholars exploring the medieval art of the Levant tended to disregard the contribution of indigenous Christians, in recent years the local Christian production has been increasingly acknowledged as an important element in shaping of the artistic tradition of the region1. Nevertheless, in the field of illustrated codices there is a continuous tendency to disregard local, in particular Syriac, manuscript illumination, which is most often seen as essentially uninventive rendering of Byzantine and Latin models. At the same time scholars appear reluctant to admit a possibility that Greek and Latin illustrated manuscripts produced in the Levant might have been affected by art of indigenous Christians. Yet, even a brief comparison of two manuscripts – a Syriac lectionary and a Latin Psalter – produced in two different scriptoria of the region, but long recognized as related, indicates that the relationship between them is anything but a simple one-way influence. If the Syriac lectionary in Paris (Bibliothèque Nationale, cod. Syr. 355) has ever contained a colophon with information about the scribe, the date and the place where the manuscript was written, it is now lost2. However, a note on fol. 1r, in the same hand as the entire manuscript, provides an insight into circumstances of creation of the miniature cycle appended at the beginning of the codex. It describes twenty-three illustrations: a cross; the Annunciation; the Nativity; the Presentation in the Temple; the Baptism in the Jordan; the Transfiguration; the Resurrection of Lazarus; the Entry to Jerusalem; the Washing of the Apostle’s Feet; the Last Supper; the Crucifixion; the Entombment; the Resurrection; the Incredulity of Thomas; the Ascension; the Pentecost; the Dormition of the Virgin; the Exaltation of the Cross; Deesis; Evangelists Matthew; Marc; Luke, and John; and another cross3. Only ten of these – both crosses, the Presentation (Pl. 1), the Baptism (Pl. 2), the Entry to Jerusalem (Pl. 3), the Washing of the Apostles’ Feet, the Incredulity of Thomas (Pl. 4), the Ascension, the Exaltation of the Cross, the Deesis – are still extant, though the last two are so badly deteriorated, as to be almost illegible. From the note, we learn that the cost of the illustrations, 100 zuze nasiri4, was met by donations from Bishop Bulfatan of Aleppo (40 zuze), Habib and Qufar, monks of the Monastery of St Barsauma (Deir Mar Barsauma; 20 zuze)5, Jeremiah, monk of the same 1 2 3 4 5 Hunt, 1991, 83-85; Kühnel 1994, 47, 52-53, 62-66, 164168; Cruikshank Dodd 2007, 11-12; Immerzeel 2009. For the detailed discussion of the preservation of manuscript see Omont 1911, 201-202. Omont, 1911, 202-203; Leroy 1964, 272-273. Leroy (1964, 274) speculates that this amount was roughly equal or only slightly higher than the cost of the parchment and of the writing of the manuscript, without providing any references to back up his supposition. Evidence provided by other, roughly contemporary, manuscripts is not easy to analyse. A thirteenth-century note in a non-illustrated manuscript of the Lives of Saints in the National Library in Paris (cod. Syr. 234, fol. 317) informs us that it was sold for the sum of 22 zuze. However, a series of notes in a likewise non-illustrated codex in the British Library (Add. 850) dated to A.D. 1364 records its sale in A.D. 1401 for 150 zuze of Hisn Kifa, than again at an unspecified date for 156 zuze of Hisn Kifa and finally for only 10 zuze in A.D. 1667 (fol. 208v; Wright, 1871, coll. 899). The problem here is that ‘zuze’ is a generic term designating a variety of local silver currencies. Nevertheless, the specific term zuze nasiri, as already suggested by Omont 1911, 204 n. 1, in all likelihood indicates dihram nasiri, a silver dihram, weighting about 2.80g introduced in Zengid Aleppo and Damascus in 1175/76 by Saladin. According to Abu Shama, the exchange rate in Damascus for the year 636/1238/39, during a period of increasing prices, of one dinar misri being equal in value to nine dirhams nasiris (Heidemann 2009, esp. 284). At the same time the lowest category of houses in Fatimid and Ayyubid Egypt could have been purchased for 10-12 dinars (Goitein 1978, 8-9). Consequently, although this is only a rough approximation, it appears that the cost of the miniatures roughly equalled that of a small house. Omont (1911, 206) suggested that Qufar, may be the same person who executed the binding of the Syriac manuscript from A.D. 1197, preserved in the British Library, Add 12174. See also Wright 1872, vol. 3, colls 1123-1139. 59 monastery (7 zuze), Mar Gregory from Rumnah (i.e. Hromkla; 12 zuze) and an Armenian nun Askenuri from Beth Hesne (12 zuze). Having obtained the total sum, the scribe brought the manuscript to Melitene (present-day Malatya), where the miniatures were executed by the painter Joseph, a deacon, working under supervision of Bishop John. The last information permits to date the manuscript: although there were several bishops of that name in Melitene, the manuscript was attributed on palaeographic basis to the end of the twelfth century, and accordingly we can date it to the episcopate of John, bishop in years 1193-12206. Moreover, because Gregory of Rumnah does not appear in lists of bishops for the patriarchate of Michael the Syrian, the codex probably postdates Michael’s death in 11997. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 60 Michael the Syrian, Chronicle, ed. Chabot 1910, 412. Omont 1911, 206; Hunt 1991a, 347. Leroy 1964, 280. Leroy 1964, 227-228; Snelders 2010, 176, 397-398. For the discussion of the artistic patronage of Michael the Syrian, in particular for an illuminated Gospel Book with a miniature cycle of the life of Christ, written by Michael for Deir Mar Barsauma, see Doumato 2001; Snelders 2010, 173-174. Moreover, Doumato suggested that Michael’s manuscript provided fundamental inspiration for the production of illustrated Syriac manuscripts in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (Doumato 1999, 243-258). See also Hunt 1991a, 337; Leroy 1964, 428-429. For patronage and the production of illuminated manuscripts in Syrian Orthodox circles, see Immerzeel 2009, 158-161; Snelders 2010, 70-73, 169-177. Leroy 1964, 275. Although Hunt 1991a, 344, described the lectionary in Damascus (Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate 12/3, formerly Jerusalem, St. Mark’s Syr.6), completed by Bacchos at the Monastery of the Mother of God in 1222 for John, the metropolitan of Amida, as not Byzantine in the style of its illustration but also with the readings are ordered according to the Byzantine system, this is not the case, as the readings, and the miniatures are arranged according to the Syrian Orthodox liturgical year (Leroy 1964, 318). For the discussion of the diverse decorative systems in middle Byzantine lectionaries see Lowden, 2009, 77-89. The placement at the beginning of the manuscript may be largely due to practical reasons of the miniatures being executed in a separate quire. We should also keep in mind that such placement is attested for example in the famous sixth-century Rabbula Gospels (Laur.Plut.I.56). The dating of the codex is securely fixed by the entries in a calendar appended to the Psalter. An entry commemorates the death of Melisende’s mother, Morphia (before 1129), and her father King Baldwin II (1131), but there is no entry for Fulk, Melisende’s husband, who died in 1143 (Buchthal 1957, 1-14; Folda 2008, 32-36). Judging from the note, the driving force behind the making of the manuscript and its decorations was the scribe himself; he collected the necessary funds and brought the manuscript to be illustrated in Melitene. It is unclear why the donors decided to jointly sponsor the miniatures. Possibly, the foundation reflects their devotion to a saint for whose church the codex was made, although there is nothing in the manuscript to reveal this saint’s identity. Because of its proximity to Melitene and because three of the donors were monks at Deir Mar Barsauma, it has been suggested that the codex was destined for its monastic church8. This would not be a unique case as other extant manuscripts have been made in Melitene for the monks of Deir Mar Barsauma. A good example is the eleventhcentury lectionary, currently in the library of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus, which according to its colophon was ‘written and finished’ in Melitene by a deacon-scribe Peter for a monk Lazarus, who offered it to Deir Mar Barsauma9. Nevertheless, during the episcopate of Michael the Syrian, who resided in Deir Mar Barsauma, the monastery became an active artistic centre, making it perhaps less likely that a manuscript written there was sent to be illustrated in Melitene10. Although Paris Syr. 355 is a Syrian Orthodox lectionary, the list of the miniatures, which presumably reflects their original order, corresponds to the Byzantine, that is, chronological sequence of the feasts related to the life of Christ, departing from their order in the Syrian Orthodox liturgical year, which commemorated the Transfiguration after Easter11. This has been taken to indicate that the miniaturist followed a Byzantine model12. Nevertheless, there may be a more mundane explanation: unlike in many other thirteenth-century Syriac lectionaries the miniatures are not dispersed throughout the codex, appended to the corresponding passages of the text, but rather they are gathered together at the beginning. Accordingly, there was little reason to alter the chronological sequence of the scenes13. Both in terms of the placement at the beginning of the codex, as well as in terms of the iconography, the miniatures in the Paris lectionary have been often compared to a cycle of twenty-four illustrations of the life of Christ which open the Queen Melisende’s Psalter (B.L. Egerton 1139). This codex, made at the scriptorium of the Holy Sepulchre shortly before A.D. 1143, is a major representative of court patronage in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem14. For the purpose of this article I focus on the initial cycle of illustrations, whose author placed his Latin signature ‘Basili(us) me fecit’, on the footstool of Christ in the Deesis illustration. We should keep in mind, however, that each of the four distinct sets of illustrations in the codex: the initial cycle, the images in the calendar, the headpieces within the Psalms, and the cycle of saints at the end of the manuscript, appears to have been made by a different artist15. Six of the compositions in the Syrian Orthodox lectionary which are sufficiently well preserved to make an analysis of their iconography possible – the Presentation in the Temple, the Baptism of Christ, the Entry to Jerusalem, the Washing of the Apostles’ Feet, the Incredulity of Thomas, the Ascension – are also illustrated in the Melisende’s Psalter. The first scene, the Presentation in the Temple, has often been described as representing the same iconographic variant in both codices, since in both it is Simeon, not Mary, who holds the Child (Pls 1, 5)16. Such iconography is nevertheless not uncommon in the post-iconoclastic period: the earliest preserved Byzantine manuscript which portrays Simeon with the Child in his arms is a Gospel Book of the third quarter of the eleventh century, in the National Library in Vienna (MS theol. gr. 154, fol. 143), but the image of Simeon holding Christ is already recorded in descriptions of churches with ninth-century decoration17. Moreover, several elements set the scene in the Syriac lectionary apart from that in the Psalter. In the lectionary the pose of the Christ facing Simeon, who bows his head towards him, resembles that in the eleventhcentury Gospel in Vienna. Conversely, in the Melisende’s Psalter the Child, who turns to face Mary, and who reaches out to her, resembles that in the twelfth-century Rockefeller-McCormick New Testament (The University of Chicago, Joseph Regenstein Library, MS 965, fol. 59v)18. On the other hand, the miniature in Melisende’s Psalter shares with both these Byzantine codices, that is, with the Gospel in Vienna and the New Testament in Chicago, a similar pose of Mary. She raises her hand to her chest, clutching the folds of her cloak, in a movement interpreted as a proleptic gesture of mourning her son in the Crucifixion19. Indeed, in the Psalter this significance is explicit, as in the illustration of the Crucifixion Mary holds the edge of her garment in the same manner20. In the Syrian Orthodox lectionary Mary stands frontally, with her arms crossed on her chest. This unusual variant is also attested in the Armenian Gospel Book 35 of the Church of St Gregory the Illuminator at Galata-Istanbul, copied in 1223 at the hermitage of T’agvor21. While I know of no other similar depiction of Mary, comparable poses appear in the representation interpreted as rendering grief and despondency22. One also wonders about the possibility of a relationship between this gesture and the depiction of the ‘Men of Sorrows’, echoing the death of Christ in a prophetic manner parallel to the gesture of Mary in the Melisende’s Psalter illustration23. Both iconographic variants through their visual references to the Crucifixion and the dead of Christ, serve to increase the visual drama, a tendency long recognized as characteristic of Byzantine art of the twelfth century24. The diversity of visual means employed in both codices attests to an independent dialog with Byzantine modes of expression, in the context of the Syriac lectionary possibly mediated through the Armenian milieu. The scene which follows in the Syrian Orthodox lectionary, the Baptism of Christ, shows the Saviour immersed in the Jordan, while John the Baptist 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 The 24 illustrations of the life of Christ are followed by 12 calendar roundels in colours on gold grounds (ff. 13v-19). 1 full-page historiated initial in ink on a gold ground at the beginning of Psalm 1 (f. 23v). 1 full-page of text in gold on brown stripes in a decorated border at the beginning of Psalm 1 (f. 24). Large and small initials in gold, with penwork decoration in blue and yellow from ff. 24v-32v. 7 large initials in ink on gold grounds with animals, hybrids, men, and masks, with text in gold on brown strips in a decorated full-page border at the principle divisions of Psalms 26, 38, 52, 68, 80, 97, and 109 (ff. 46v, 60v, 74v, 89v, 106v, 123, 139v). Finally, 9 half-page miniatures in colours and gold among the prayers dedicated to the Virgin and saints (ff. 202v, 205, 206, 206v, 207v, 208, 209, 210, 211). For a detailed discussion see Buchthal 1957, esp. 1-14, 139-40. See also Zeitler 2000. Buchthal 1939, 138; Leroy 1964, 276. Maguire 1980-1981, 261-263. For the discussion of the development of the iconography of this scene, focusing on the period before the iconoclasm see Shorr 1946, 17-32. Weyl Carr 1987, 12-26. Maguire 1980-1981, 261. Maguire 1980-1981, 268-269. On Byzantine influence in the Crucifixion scene of the Psalter see Kühnel, 1994, 63. Der Nersessian 1993, 39-40. Maguire 1977, 155. Maguire 1977, 156; Belting 1980-1981, 6-7, 12. Maguire, 1980-1981, 261, 269; Anderson 1982. For representation of the emotional relationship between Mary and Christ in Byzantine art see Kalavrezou 1990. For a very interesting general discussion of the language of gesture in art, see Gombrich 1966. 61 stands on the right and a pair of angels accompanies the scene on the other bank (Pl. 2). To the left of Christ, in the waters of Jordan, a slim cross raises on a pediment of two steps. The river is alive with fish swimming around Jesus, and the scene is further enlivened by small human figures at the bottom of the composition, which are either coming out of water or preparing to dive in. Although these figures have been tentatively identified as an evidence of a Western influence25, it seems more likely that this motif, along with representation of fish, reflects a tradition more typical to Syriac manuscript illumination. Indeed, swimming figures, along with fish and plants appear in the Baptism of Christ in several other Syrian Orthodox lectionaries26. Likewise, placing of John to the right of the composition is fairly common in Syriac context27. In Melisende’s Psalter John is positioned to the left (Pl. 6), an arrangement customary in Byzantine as well as in Armenian representations28. The tightsleeved fur tunic of John depicted here has been identified as one of the earliest appearances of a 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 62 Leroy 1964, 277 n. 3. For a discussion of this motif in Syriac manuscripts see Doumato 1999, 246-248. Vat.Syr. 559, fol. 262r. Der Nersessian 1993, Figs 198-201. Weyl Carr 1982, 48. For different interpretation and the occurring of left and right position of St John in early Christian art already, see Snelders 2007, 31-32; idem 2010, 220-221. Der Nersessian 1993, 45-46. Weyl Carr 1982, 59. Weyl Carr 1982, 60. Folda 2008, 51. On this particular iconographic type of the Incredulity, see Christoforaki, I. 2000, 71-87. Kühnel 1988, XIV. Cutler (1986-1987, 183), played down the significance of Basil’s Syriac inscription, as having little significance for the size and nature of the Nativity church mosaics. Borg (1981, 10-11) proposed that ‘Basil’ represented a trade name identifying one of a limited number of (western) artists in business in the Latin Kingdom. See also Hunt 1991, 75. One may also add that an illustrated lectionary in Saint Catherine Monastery in Sinai, cod. 220, dated by colophon to 1167 A.D. has been according to this colophon completed in Bethlehem by the hand of Basil Skenouris. It is uncertain, however, whether in this case Basil was only a scribe, or whether he also executed the illustrations. Weitzmann, Galavaris, 1990, 174-175. Kühnel 1987, 148; Hunt 1991, 75. It has been also noted that the ecclesiastical designation of the mosaicist is not found in the Psalter (Hunt 1991, 75). Yet, if we consider that only Syriac inscription in the mosaic provides the ecclesiastical title of the artist and moreover similar designation accompanies the name of the painter of the Syriac lectionary in Paris, it cannot be excluded that such addition of ecclesiastical titles is more specific to Syriac. similar garment in ‘Byzantine painting’. At the same time, because iconography of this kind is common in Armenian manuscripts, it has been suggested that this motif may reflect an impact of the Armenian milieu29. Similar influence on the iconography of the Psalter cannot be excluded. Indeed, and Armenian inspiration seems even more pronounced in the following miniature in the Syrian Orthodox lectionary and the corresponding illustration of the Melisende’s Psalter, the Entry to Jerusalem (Pls 3, 7). A striking motif of Christ’s donkey ostensibly levitating above the ground, finds best parallels in Armenian manuscripts produced in Hromkla30. The next illustration, the Washing of the Apostles’ Feet shares a similar composition in both codices. A close analogy of this iconography, with Christ offering a towel to Peter, can be found in the Chicago New Testament 965, fol. 98r31. It has been also noted that even stylistically the spare composition and rigid architecture of the Melisende’s Psalter recall miniatures of the Chicago manuscript 32. Conversely, in the Syrian Orthodox lectionary the scene is cramped; it almost seems like the painter had a difficulty fitting in all figures into the frame. The similarity between the Syriac lectionary and the Latin Psalter is also pronounced in the following scene, the Incredulity of Thomas (Pls 4, 8). In both codices Christ, depicted almost frontally, stands on the background of an open door, clasping Thomas’ hand and guiding it to his open wounds. It has been long observed that the depiction in the Syrian Orthodox lectionary and in the Melisende’s Psalter corresponds to the mosaic panel showing this scene in the Nativity Church in Betlehem, part of the decoration programme sponsored by the Byzantine emperor Manuel Komnenos in 1169.33 It is interesting to note that among the names of artists accompanying the mosaics we encounter one ‘Basilios pictor’ whose Latin signature is accompanied by one in Syriac ‘Basil the deacon depicted (this)’, which clearly indicates the artistic involvement of indigenous Christians34. Basil’s Syriac inscription is prefaced by a star such as frequently marks the beginning of a sentence in a Syriac manuscript35, but the differences in the technique and more than two decades that separate both works, make it unlikely, that this artist is the same as Basilius, whose signature appears in the Melisende’s Psalter36. This iconographic affinity of both manuscripts with the mosaic sponsored by Manuel Komnenos is difficult to interpret unequivocally: while it may indicate the lasting impact of Byzantine artistic tradition, it arguably may also attest to the established local, Levantine tradition of such iconography, assimilated decades earlier.37 The last of the scenes in the Syrian Orthodox lectionary, the Ascension, followed only by an almost illegible representation of the Exaltation of Cross and Deesis, shares the iconography with the corresponding scene in the Melisende’s Psalter. In both codices the scene is rigidly symmetrical with Mary standing frontally on the axis of the miniature below the round halo surrounding Christ. She is flanked by two angels, who turn towards the apostles standing to the sides of the composition. Even the trees in the background are similar in both manuscripts. The static, rigidly symmetrical character of this scene is unlike the contemporary Byzantine representations of the Ascension, in which the asymmetrical composition, the vivid gestures and dynamic movement all serve to increase the dramatic character of the scene38. The iconography of the Ascension in the lectionary and in the Psalter seems reminiscent of the depiction in the sixth-century Rabbula Gospel (Florence, Laur. Plut I.56, fol. 14r). Although this codex was still in use in the twelfth century (it would have arrived in the monastery of Qannubin in Lebanon in the thirteenth or fourteenth century), as indicated by the second list of readings at that time39, it seems unlikely, that it provided a direct source of inspiration for this representation in either of the discussed codices. Rather, their similarity attests to longevity of a successful iconographic formula. The author of the initial cycle of the illustrations in the Melisende’s Psalter has been most frequently identified as ‘an accomplished Crusader artist’, who ‘may have well studied in a Greek workshop’40. Yet, not only there is very little, if anything at all, to confirm his Latin identity, but also the iconography of the miniatures – while undeniably inspired by Byzantine art – is very strongly embedded in the local Christian Syriac and Armenian traditions. Importantly, it is not only the initial cycle of miniatures in the Psalter that presents parallels with indigenous Christian art: the closest analogy for the incipit pages of the liturgical divisions in Psalms can be found in the Armenian manuscript Erevan Matebadaran 31141. Moreover, while the pages of the Melisende’s Psalter are isolated example among the manuscripts illustrated in Outremer, the Armenians of Cilicia continued to use this type of ornate page in the thirteenth century for the dedicatory inscriptions42. Similar connection with Armenian painting is not surprising if we take into consideration that Buchthal reasonably posited work of Armenian painters in the decoration of two Gospel books (Paris BN, lat 276 and Vat. Lat. 5974) in the Holy Sepulchre scriptorium in the third quarter of the twelfth century43. The initial composition in one of these Gospels, Vat. Lat. 5974, appears to be based on a near contemporary Byzantine model, which reflects dual Armenian and Byzantine artistic traditions which played part in the making of this codex, as well as in the creation of the Melisende’s Psalter44. The scheme of the decoration of the manuscript – with the introductory miniatures providing Christian setting to the Psalter, has been identified as entirely Western, having been introduced in England only shortly before this book was made45. Nevertheless, a similar arrangement may have been also inspired by the combination of Psalter and New Testament, very common among the provincial Byzantine manuscripts of the twelfth century46. It is also interesting to note that Deesis, which concludes the cycle of illustrations in Melisende’s 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 For a discussion of the artistic patronage of Manuel in the Holy Land see Weyl Carr, 1982a and Hunt 1991. See for example Codex Ebnerianus, fol. 231v (Meredith 1966, 419). Leroy 1964, 154 n. 2. Weyl Carr 1982, 48 n. 42; Folda, 1997, 393; idem 2008, 33. On Byzantine influence in the Psalter see also Kühnel, 1994, 63. Der Nersessian 1993, 13-15. Der Nersessian 1993, 15. Buchthal 1957, 32; see also Prawer 1976; Folda, 1997, 394-395. Buchthal 1957, 26 n. 3. Weyl Carr 1982, n. 15. Folda 2008, 33-34. On migration of christological cycles into Psalters see McLachlan 1982. An interesting case is presented by the ‘Galba Psalter’ (London, British Library, Cotton Galba A. xviii) is a pocket-sized (128 ≈ 88 mm.), early ninthcentury Carolingian book, perhaps made in the region of Liège, originally decorated only with ornamental initials. By the early tenth century the manuscript had reached England, where an Anglo-Saxon scriptorium added two prefatory quires (1r–19v) containing a metrical calendar illuminated with zodiac signs, single figures, and five full-page pictures. Two miniatures of Christ and the saints on 2v and 21r preface the calendar and a series of prayers respectively, and three New Testament pictures marked the customary threefold division of the Psalms (Deshman 1997). Weyl Carr 1982, 41, idem, 1987, 2, 211, 218-220, 223, 235-236, 245-246, 273-274, 282-283. 63 Psalter and thus precedes the calendar and the Psalter text, has been used as a frontispiece in two early twelfth-century Byzantine Psalters in Harvard and formerly in Berlin, Theological Seminary cod. 380747. Similar function assigned to this composition most likely reflects the liturgical character of both the lectionary and the Psalter. What most visibly sets the miniatures of the Syrian Orthodox lectionary apart from the pictures in the Melisende’s Psalter are the very ornate frames with arches supported by columns with picturesque capitals. Such frames find close parallels in Armenian manuscript illumination of the twelfth and thirteenth century, while the grotesque masques and animal heads playing the role of capitals, can be best compared to the contemporary Armenian manuscripts from Cilicia48. The placement of the Christological cycle at the beginning of the lectionary likewise finds close analogies in Armenian manuscripts: similar arrangement is attested, for example, in five codices of the mid-eleventh century, originating from the regions of Sebastia and Melitene49. We should keep in mind that one of the sponsors of the Paris lectionary manuscript was an Armenian nun, which further illustrates the close ties between the two communities50. Furthermore, the quires of Paris manuscript are numbered by letters both Syriac and the Armenian alphabets and a second set of Armenian letters, corresponding to numerals, appears on the first five pages of each quire, from quire 1 to 5. These were no doubt intended as guides for the binder who must have been Armenian51. In terms of the style and iconography the connection between Syriac and Armenian illustrated manuscripts of the region is very strong. Syriac 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 64 Nees 1975; Der Nersessian 1965, 167. It is also noteworthy that the Deesis scene decorates the headpiece of a liturgical roll (Benedictio ignis et fontis) of the Cathedral at Bari, which has been dated to the eleventh century, and which certainly exhibits great reliance on Byzantine models; cf. Avery 1936, Pl. XII. Der Nersessian 1963, 13-14, n. 43; Durnovo 1961, 77-78. Izmailova 1962, Figs 1-37. Hunt 1991a, 341. Der Nersessian 1993, 40-41. Leroy 1964, 241-253; Hunt 1991a, 341-342. Weyl Carr 1982, 39; Leroy 1964, 338-341; Hunt 1991a, 345. For a brief survey of inscription languages as found in illuminated Syrian Orthodox manuscripts, see Snelders 2010, 392-398. Boase 1938, 15; Hunt 1991, 76; Rapti 2006. Leroy 271; Hunt 1991, 78. artists often used Armenian illumination as their models, as indicated by Armenian inscriptions, which accompany the miniatures in several Syriac codices. In some cases, for example, in the twelfthcentury Buchanan Bible (Cambridge University Library, MS Oo.1.1.2), triple Greek, Armenian and Syriac inscriptions appear in the same miniatures52. Their presence has been taken to indicate that the illustrations were copied from an Armenian codex which in turn had been based on a Greek model, and as the miniatures were crossing linguistic barriers, the old inscriptions were retained53. While this is a likely explanation, what seems a particularly fascinating question is the issue of the motives behind retaining Greek and Armenian inscriptions in the Syriac codex. Whereas the similarity between the miniatures of the Syrian Orthodox lectionary in Paris and the initial cycle of illustrations in the Melisende’s Psalter has often been acknowledged, only few scholars accepted that it might be indicative of a local school of illumination54. Instead, it was usually argued that because Melisende’s mother, Morphia, was from Melitene and we know that Melisende maintained links with the city, her patronage contributed to the transmission of the influence of the Jerusalem scriptorium to this city55. The brief analysis above demonstrates, however, that, while engaged in the dialog with Byzantine art, both manuscripts are very much steeped in the local artistic traditions. It is this shared background which they use creatively, not the relationship of dependence, that unites them. BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, J. 1982, ‘The Seraglio Octateuch and the Kokkinobaphos Master’, DOP 36, 83-114. Avery, M. 1936, The Exultet Rolls of South Italy, II, Princeton/ London/The Hague. Belting, H. 1980-1981, ‘An Image and its Function in the Liturgy: The Man of Sorrows in Byzantium’, DOP 34, 1-16. Boase, T.S.R. 1938, ‘Arts in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem’, Journal of the Warburg Institute, 2.1, (July), 1-21. Borg, A. 1981, ‘The Lost Apse Mosaic of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem’, in: A. Borg, A. Martindale (eds), The Vanishing Past: Studies of Medieval Art, Liturgy and Metrology Presented to Christopher Hohler, Oxford, 7-12. Buchthal, H. 1939, ‘Painting of the Syrian Jacobites in its relation to Byzantine and Islamic Art’, Syria 20, 136-150. Buchthal, H. 1957, Miniature Painting in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Oxford. Chabot, J.B. (ed. and transl.) 1910, Chronique de Michel le Syrien, Patriarche jacobite d’Antioche (1166-1199), Vol. 3, Paris. Christoforaki, I. 2000, ‘An unusual Representation of the Incredulity of Thomas from Lusignan Cyprus’, CArch 48, 71-87. Cruikshank Dodd, E. 2007, ‘Jerusalem: Fons et Origo: Sources in Outremer for the Development of Western Medieval Art’, in: C. Hourihane (ed.), Interactions. Artistic Interchange Between the Eastern and Western Worlds in the Medieval Period, Princeton, 11-27 (The Index of Christian Art Occassional Papers IX). Cutler, A. 1986-1987, ‘Ephraim, Mosaicist of Bethlehem: The Evidence from Jerusalem’, Jewish Art 12-13, 179-183. Der Nersessian, S. 1963, Armenian Manuscripts in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington. Der Nersessian, S. 1965, ‘A Psalter and New Testament Manuscript at Dumbarton Oaks’, DOP 19, 153-183. Der Nersessian, S. 1993, Miniature Painting in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia from the Twelfth to the Fourteenth Century, Washington. Deshman, R. 1997, ‘The Galba Psalter: pictures, texts and context in an early medieval prayerbook‘, Anglo-Saxon England 26, 109-138. Doumato, L. 1999, ‘The Art of Bishop Dioscurus Theodorus: Interpreting Syriac Miniatures in the Crusader East’, Arte Cristiana 87, 245-260. Doumato, L. 2001, ‘Patriarch Michael the Great: Iconoclast or Art Patron’, CArch 49, 29-38. Durnovo, L.A. 1961, Armenian Miniatures, London. Folda, J. 1997, ‘Crusader Art’, in: H. C. Evans, W.D. Wixom (eds.) The Glory of Byzantium. Art and Culture of the Middle Byzantine Era A.D. 843-1261, New York, 389-401. Folda J. 2008, Crusader Art. The Art of the Crusaders in the Holy Land, 1099-1291, Aldershot. Goitein, S.D. 1978, ‘Urban Housing in Fatimid and Ayyubid Times (As Illustrated by the Cairo Geniza Documents), Studia Islamica 47, 5-23. Gombrich, E.H. 1966, ‘Ritualized Gesture and Expression in Art’, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, Vol. 251, No. 772, A Discussion on Ritualization of Behaviour in Animals and Man (Dec. 29), 393-401. Heidemann, S. 2009, ‘Economic Growth and Currency in Ayyûbid Palestine’, in: R. Hillenbrand, S. Auld (eds), Ayyubid Jerusalem: The Holy City in Context 1187-1250, London, 276-300. Hunt, L.A. 1991, ‘Art and Colonialism: The Mosaics of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (1169) and the Problem of ‘Crusader‘Art’’, DOP 45, 69-85 (reprint in Hunt 2000, 224-260). Hunt, L.A. 1991a, ‘The Syriac Buchanan Bible in Cambridge: book illumination in Syria, Cilicia and Jerusalem of the later twelfth century’, Orientalia Christiana Periodica, 331369 (reprint in Hunt 2000, 23-77). Hunt, L.-A. 2000, Byzantium, Eastern Christendom and Islam. Art at the Crossroads of the Medieval Mediterranean, Vol. 2, London. Immerzeel, M. 2009, Identity Puzzles. Medieval Christian Art in Syria and Lebanon, Leuven (OLA 184). Izmailova, T. 1962, ‘L’iconographie du cycle des fêtes d’un groupe de codex arméniens d’Asie Mineure’, Revue des Etudes Arméniennes 4, 125-166. Kalavrezou, I. 1990, ‘Images of the Mother: When the Virgin Mary Became ‘Meter Theou’’, DOP 44, 165-172. Kühnel, B. 1994, Crusader Art of the Twelfth Century: A Geographical, an Historical, or An Art Historical Notion?, Berlin. Kühnel, G. 1987, ‘Das Ausschmückungsprogramm der Geburtsbasilika in Bethlehem: Byzanz und Abendland im Königreich Jerusalem‘, Boreas 10, 133-149. Kühnel, G. 1988, Wall Painting in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Berlin. Leroy, J. 1964, Les Manuscrits Syriaques à Peintures conservés dans les Bibliothèques d’Europe et d’Orient, Paris. Lowden, J. 2009, The Jaharis Gospel Lectionary. The Story of a Byzantine Book, New York. Maguire, H. 1977, ‘The Depiction of Sorrow in Middle Byzantine Art’, DOP 31, 123-174. Maguire, H. 1980-1981, ‘The Iconography of Symeon with the Christ Child in Byzantine Art’, DOP 34-35, 261-269. McLachlan, E.P. 1982, ‘The Athelstan Psalter and the Gallican Connection’, Proceedings of the Third Canadian Conference of Medieval Art Historians, 21-27. Meredith C. 1966, ‘The Illustration of Codex Ebnerianus. A Study in Liturgical Illustration of the Comnenian Period’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 29, 40-54. Nees, L. 1975, ‘An Illuminated Byzantine Psalter at Harvard University’, DOP 29, 205-224. Omont, H. 1911, ‘Peintures d’un évangéliaire syriaque du XIIe ou XIIIe siècle’, Monuments Piot 19, 201-210. Prawer, J. 1976, ‘The Armenians in Jerusalem under the Crusaders’, in; M. Stone (ed.), Armenian and Biblical Studies, Jerusalem, 223-236. Rapti, I. 2006, ‘Art chrétien en Méditerranée orientale à la fin du douzième siècle: les miniatures du lectionnaire syriaque Bnf syr 355’, Proceedings of the XXI International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London, vol. 3, 132-133. Shorr, D. 1946, ‘The Iconographic Development of the Presentation in the Temple’, The Art Bulletin 28.1, 17-32. Snelders, B. 2007, ‘A Newly Discovered Wall Painting in the Church of Mar Giworgis in Qaraqosh, Iraq’, ECA 4, 27-48. Snelders, B. 2010, Identity and Christian-Muslim Interaction. Medieval Art of the Syrian Orthodox from the Mosul Area, Leuven (OLA198). Weitzmann, K, Galavaris G., 1990, The monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai. The Illuminated Manuscripts. vol. 1 From the Ninth to the Twelfth Century, Princeton. Weyl Carr, A, 1982, ‘A Group of Provincial Manuscripts from the 12th Century’, DOP 36, 39-81. Weyl Carr, A. 1982a, ‘The Mural Paintings of Abu Gosh and the Patronage of Manuel in the Holy Land’, in: J. Folda (ed.) Crusader Art in the Twelfth Century, BAR International Series 152, Oxford, 215-244. Weyl Carr, A. 1987, Byzantine Illumination, 1150-1250: The Study of Provincial Tradition, Chicago. Wright, W. 1871-1872, Catalogue of Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum Acquired since the Year 1838, Vols 2, 3, London. Zeitler, B. 2000, ‘The Distorting Mirror: Reflections on the Queen Melisende Psalter (London, B. L., Egerton 1139)’, in: R. Cormack, E. Jeffreys (eds), Through the Looking Glass: Byzantium Through British Eyes, Ashgate, 69-81. 65 Pl. 1. Presentation in the Temple; Paris.Syr. 355, fol. 2r (Photo by permission of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) 66 Pl. 2. Baptism of Christ; Paris.Syr. 355, fol. 2v (Photo by permission of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) 67 Pl. 3. Entry to Jerusalem; Paris. Syr. 355, fol. 3r (Photo by permission of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) 68 Pl. 4. Incredulity of Thomas; Paris. Syr. 355, fol. 4r (Photo by permission of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France) 69 Pl. 5. Presentation in the Temple; B.L. Egerton 1139, fol. 3r (Photo by permission of The British Library) Pl. 6. Baptism of Christ; B.L. Egerton 1139, fol. 4r (Photo by permission of The British Library) Pl. 7. Entry into Jerusalem; B.L. Egerton 1139, fol. 5v (Photo by permission of The British Library) Pl. 8. Incredulity of Thomas; B.L. Egerton 1139, fol. 9v (Photo by permission of The British Library) 70