HMAYIL, XVI-XVI CENTURY - Lot 4

HMAYIL, XVI-XVI CENTURY Prophylactic scroll (hmayil, հմայիլ) handwritten and illuminated on laid paper. Notragir script, dimensions: 251 x 7.9 cm. Probably executed in Constantinople. The scroll consists of 7 miniatures. The year and place of creation, as well as the name of the scroll's recipient, are unknown, as the last part and the upper part of the first image are missing. The upper part of the phylactery is decorated with black and green rosettes between the first two images. The scroll begins with one of the rarest images in phylactery decoration: the depiction of Saint Cyprian and Saint Justine together. Four Hmayils have come down to us with this iconographic type. Typically, St. Cyprian and St. Justine are depicted together, holding a scepter crowned with a cross, standing beneath the altar symbolizing the Church (Hmayils no. 396 of 1572 written in Baghesh/Bitlis, no. 479 of 1573 and no. 256, no. 159, Matenadaran collection). They are shown here standing, holding a large cross symbolizing their conversion to Christianity.