Toros Taronatsi or Mshetsi lived and worked mainly in Gladzor, during the first decades of the 14th cent., at a period when the University of Gladzor, that higher type of school, was called the "Second Athens" by contemporaries. People from various parts of Armenia, even from far away Cilicia, came to Gladzor in order to improve their knowledge. Here Toros Taronatsi was educated, having as his teacher the famous scientist and the rector of Gladzor University, Yesayi Nchetzi. A talented artist, Toros Taronatsi was at the same time a scientist possessing profound knowledge, a renowned poet and a skilled scribe. Mekhitar Erzinkatsi, his contemporary, speaks of him as a "kind and fine-looking person..., full of wisdom and well-versed especially in literature and painting...".
Two main tendencies characterize Toros Taronatsi's art: adherence to old traditions and the adoption of the achievements of the Cilician school of miniature painting. The manuscripts illustrated by him are distinguished for their variety of ornamental designs and their exceptional richness. Here, side by side with various floral and geometrical designs, we see numerous kinds of animals, both real and fantastic. Their origin is often connected with old pagan notions which, however, in the Middle Ages, acquire a different sense due to the new Christian ideology. As for subject paintings, though they are up to the standards of art of that time, they retain the originality of style arising from local, popular art creations.
In Toros Taronatsi's miniatures the images of the characters with their expressive, beautiful, almond-shaped eyes and dark-shaded, arched eyebrows produce a particular impression. The bright and saturated colouring convey a special splendour to Toros Taronatsi's miniatures.
Gareguin Hovsepian defines Toros Taronatsi as a skillful and a most versatile artist. This productive master copied and illustrated a lot of manuscripts, most of which have come down to our days. They are now dispersed in the various collections of Armenian manuscripts. The Mashtots Matenadaran has 7 such manuscripts of Toros Taronatsi; the most important among them are Yesayi Nchetsi's Bible, the "Masterpiece of the Gladzor scriptorium" written in 1318 A.D. (Matenadaran, codex 206) and the richly decorated Gospel of 1323 A.D. (Matenadaran, codex 6289).
Toros Taronatsi's paintings are a most valuable contribution to Armenian medieval art heritage.
EMMA KORKHMAZIAN
