Hymnal, Head-piece for the Canon of the Birth of the Virgin, Walters Manuscript W.545, fol. 2r

This Armenian hymnal was created in the late-17th or early 18th century. Although no colophons are recorded in the manuscript, the name of the scribe, Awēt, appears on fol. 11r. This may be the same Awēt whose work is recorded elsewhere in manuscripts produced at the Monastery of Surb Amenap'rkič in Julfa, Isfahan (Iran). The four miniatures depicting Joachim and Anna, Adam and Eve, the Resurrection of Christ, and Pentecost represent familiarity with European pictorial traditions. They appear to have been retouched after the original paint began to flake off. The head-pieces for canon divisions and the marginal decoration are based on earlier Armenian models. The small size of this hymnal suggests that it was used privately when participating in the Armenian liturgy.