One manuscript in particular summarizes the cohesion between Armenian aesthetic, literary, and religious traditions. Rendered by the late- fourteenth-century artist Tserun, it shows a teacher holding up a tablet — a bnag — printed with the Armenian alphabet, presenting the sacred letters to two wide-eyed students whose hands open eagerly to receive the language(fig. 1).
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| Fig. 1 |
Neither cynicism nor skepticism mar the miniature; with clarity and charm, its depicts the transmission of cultural traditions through the written word.Vaspurakan miniatures were based on symbolic dogmatism accompanied by certain elements of folk art imagery. This combination accounts for the distinguishing features of their iconography and of their subjects: namely, the great role played by images linked with ancient symbolism and apocryphal legends.
They are also remarkable for their stylistic features: the general composition and the treatment of individual scenes are determined by the essentially linear character of drawing.The line as the main expressive device is supported by rich and clear colours.The lack of perspective in the composition and drawing, typical of medieval art in general, is more conspicuous in the Vaspurakan miniatures than elsewhere.
Sources
The Magical Pine Ring by Margaret Bedrosian
Armenian miniatures of the 13th centuries and 1th collection from the Matenadaran, Yerevan
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