| Skevra Evangeliary | |
|---|---|
| National Library of Poland | |
 | |
| Also known as | Lemberg Gospel |
| Type | codex, evangeliary |
| Date | late 12th century |
| Language | Armenian |
| Size | 29x22 cm, 426 lvs |
| Accession | Rps 8101 III [1] |
Skevra Evangeliary is an illuminated Armenian evangeliary from the 12th century.
Contents
The evangeliary was produced in the year 647 of the Armenian Era, which corresponds to the 1198/1199 of the Gregorian calendar. [2] It was produced by Grigor Mlitchetsi in the monastery of Skevra. Owner's notes allow us to identify some stages in the history of the manuscript. One such note from 1422/1423 suggests that the Gospel book was already in what was then Poland at that time, possibly already in Lviv. [3] From 19th century to the Second World War it was kept in the Armenian Cathedral in Lviv. [4] After the Second World War it was brought to the region of Kraków and deposited in the monastery of Tyniec, from where it was given to the archive of the Archdiocese of Gniezno in 1985. These movements after 1945 were unknown to science and the public until the manuscript was discovered and identified in Gniezno in 1993. [5] From 1996 to 1997, the book was in the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz for Conservation and restoration as well as for an interdisciplinary study. [6] [7] In 2006 the head of the Armenian Catholic Church in Poland, who is the Catholic Archbishop of Warsaw, placed the Evangeliary on deposit in the National Library of Poland. [8] From May 2024, the manuscript is presented at a permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth. [9]
The manuscript contains 426 leaves, measuring 29 x 22 cm. [1] The text comprises the four Gospels and artistically decorated canon tables. [5] The miniatures in the manuscript are important examples of the illuminator's art from Lesser Armenia, or the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. [8] Influences from Byzantine art are visible. [10] The text is decorated with full-page miniatures depicting Evangelists and figurative, floral and zoomorphic initials. [1] It is one of the world's most valuable Armenian manuscripts. [8]
