Opening to John from a Gospel book

Martiros Khizants'i · 1596

Bifolio from an illuminated Gospel book written in Armenian on paper in Bolorgir and Erkat-agir script, by the scribe and artist Martiros of Khizan in 1596 at Constantinople (Istanbul). A portrait of John the Evangelist dictating to Prochoros, while receiving inspiration from the 'hand of God', faces the opening page of his gospel. The hand of God appears from the upper right corner. An ornamental heading fills the top half of the page of the text, while an interlacing palmette runs the length of the right-hand margin. An eagle with a book in its beak is found in the upper margin. The first letter of the gospel is formed by the a large anthropomorphic letter topped by the evangelist's symbol (an eagle with halo), while the remainder of the first line is formed by zoomorphic letters, followed by alternating lines of gold and blue script. The text continues on the verso of the right-hand page.