The Case of the East Syriac Lectionary Sir. 26: Improvement or Forgery?

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Abstract

Among Syriac manuscripts of the Institute of the Oriental Manuscripts in Saint Petersburg, there is an East Syriac lectionary Sir. 26. Being an Evangeliary (Evangelion), it is meant for the Gospel lections of the whole liturgical year. The manuscript contains a number of miniatures that were added to it later, as pointed out by Nina V. Pigulevskaia. The additional folia with the miniatures contain also the date of completion and the name of the person involved. Besides, a part of the representations is marked in his hand as ‘a new image’, while the others are called ‘an old image’. Their iconographic features and the data provided by the notes enable us to see in a new light various tendencies that appeared in the manuscript production of the Chaldean (East Syriac Catholic) Church in the 19th — early 20th cc. Besides, the ‘restorer’ wrote quatrains in the miniatures that used to accompany the latter, hence they became an important element of the manuscript illumination.

About the authors

Anton D. Pritula

Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics

Author for correspondence.
Email: pritulanna@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2354-1171

Dr. Sci. (Philology), Lead Researcher Oriental Department Hermitage Museum; Professor, Head Researcher

Russian Federation, St. Petersburg

References

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  9. PRITULA, Anton D. 2020a: “East Syriac Poetry Embedded in the Manuscript Illumination: 16th century”. Manuscritpa Orientalia 26(1): 26–36.
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1. JATS XML
2. Pl. 1. Syriac collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. MS. Sir. 26, f. 28v

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3. Pl. 2. Syriac collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. MS. Sir. 26, f. 33v

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4. Pl. 3. Syriac collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. MS. Sir. 26, f. 1v

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5. Pl. 4. Syriac collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. MS. Sir. 26, f. 96v

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6. Pl. 5. Syriac collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. MS. Sir. 26, f. 150v

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7. Pl. 6. Syriac collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences. MS. Sir. 26, f. 9v

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