Opening to Matthew from a Gospel book

Martiros Khizants'i · 1596

Bifolio from an illuminated Gospel book written in Armenian on paper in Bolorgir and Erkat-agir scripts, by the scribe and artist Martiros of Khizan in 1596 at Constantinople (Istanbul). A portrait of Matthew the Evangelist faces the opening page of his gospel. An octagonal frame intertwines a rectangular one. Mathew sits in a chair, writing in an open book. An ornamental heading fills the top half of the opening page of the text, while an interlacing palmette runs the length of the right margin. Birds are painted in the upper margin. The first letter of the gospel is formed by the evangelist's symbol (a winged man), while the remainder of the first line is formed by anthropomorphic letters, followed by alternating lines of gold and blue script. The text continues on the verso of the right-hand page.