| Discussions of the interaction between Eastern and Western art in the Crusader period have often suggested random links to the manuscript illuminations of Cilicia, the Armenian kingdom on the northeastern shore of the Mediterranean, especially in the late thirteenth century. No effort has been made, however, to explain the apparently erratic artistic contacts with the West nor have suggested Western connections been considered in terms of the overall development of Armenian scriptoria and their patrons. Inadequate attention has been given to the role of the Armenian patriarchate, which was located, not in Cilicia, but inland on the Euphrates River at Hromkla in this era.; By carefully correlating visual and historical data, this study proves that it is at Hromkla first in the mid-twelfth and then again in the mid-thirteenth centuries that Western motifs are introduced to Cilician illumination. The first generation of Western adaptations are shown to have occurred as the great Armenian prelate Nerses Lambronac'i became intensely interested in the Benedictine order and to have been continued in the late twelfth century only at his scriptorium at Skewra. In the mid-thirteenth century, Skewra's Westernizing motifs are shown to have been introduced at Hromkla as a prelude to a new generation of Western adaptations. In this era, the Armenian-Kat'olikos at Hromkla and his patrons, a newly stable dynasty in Cilicia, are proven to have encouraged a renewal of Western religious dialogue. Western motifs in the illuminations of T'oros Roslin, Hromkla and Armenia's greatest illuminator, are identified and shown to reflect the pattern of Franciscan penetration into Cilicia in the mid-thirteenth century. Links to Italian art, the Bible moralisee tradition brought to Cilicia by the Franciscan William of Rubruck, the Crusader scriptorium in Acre, and contemporary Franciscan writings are established. The religious independence that led Armenian illuminators to adapt, not copy, Western models is recognized. The place of Cilician illumination with the broader context of medieval art is firmly established by providing concrete evidence of the role of Western art in its development. |
