Il Matenadaran di Erevan : la ‘Biblioteca' di manoscritti armeni per eccellenza

The Matenadaran in Yerevan. The ‘Library' of Armenian manuscripts par excellenceThe Matenadaran in Yerevan is the main library of Armenian manuscripts in the world. Focusing on this institution, this article briefly retraces its history and describes its aims, activities, and current organization. Some of the treasures kept in the institution are also reviewed. The richness of the material is such as to allow scholars to reconstruct the main stages in the history of Armenian illumination painting from the 9th to the 19th century. [Publisher's text]