Georgian Illuminations from the Djruchi II Four Gospels, 12-13th Centuries

Folio 186v

Source: The Helmet from the Wawel Royal Castle Museum and its Place in the Evolution of Oriental Helmet by Mamuka Tsurtsumia

Djrutchi Four Gospels (H-1667), 12-13th cc.; 24.5 X 18.6, 278 folios; parchment. Nuskhuri hand; The MS is restored, leather-bound in wooden cover.
Lavishly decorated 334 miniatures illustrating the content.
The Manuscript was brought by Ekvtime Taqaishvili from Djruchi monastery (western Georgia).

Djruchi II the Four Gospels H 1667
Physical Description: Nusxuri, asomtavruli. Decoration: It is illuminated by arches, upper ornamentations, images of the evangelists, miniatures and adorned by above-posited letters. Altogether there are 360 miniatures. Binding: Brown engraved leather fastened upon wood. Condition: it is partly restored.

General Note:
The text of the Gospels is of the redaction of Giorgi Mtatsmindeli. As regards its illuminations, the manuscript is unique and represents a brilliant example of the classical period. There are 360 miniatures in the manuscript. The text is adorned by above-posited ornamented letters, in the designs are used human and bird images. Ornamentations of some of the above-posited letters are unfinished. The miniatures must be a work of more than one artist. The Four Gospels received their name according to the place to which the book belonged. As the gloss of the 1821 says, it was dedicated to the Djruchi monastery by Tamar Dadiani, a wife of Zurab Tsereteli, a minister of the King Solomon II. By origin the book should be from Megrelia. In the glosses of the XIV century is mentioned a sexton of Mokvi Markos Bukhunia; jgergeshkochi a dekanoz (Djgergeshkochi is a Megrelian word and means “a man of saint George”); Katholikos-Patriarch of the Western Georgia Grigol II, XVIII century. The manuscript was delivered from the Djruchi monastery to the Historical-Ethnographical Society in Tbilisi in 1919 by Ekvtime Takhaishvili. Besides the code 1667, the manuscript in the internal part of the upper cover has a number 80. The last number should belong to the library of Djruchi monastery.
Text source: Evergreen Catalog