r.6mrnunic(;ition-ı<eport for: XVIe Con~res International d 'Etudes Byzantines : - 5-10 October 1981, Vienna . ·) ,·r, . Pror. Uiclr.rıın Kouynıjiıuı /

Armt!nlan Srudleıı Proaranı Seetion 1.2 'l'echnology, or 2. ,:::,. Cıılir. Sıııte Vnheralıy

i'rtlji)O, cA 93740 Dickran Kouyınjian

Comput erizatian of fvlanuscript Illuminations:

The Index of Arınanian Art (IAA)

I. The Backısrou nd

The relative inaccessibility of Armenian manuscript

illuminutions for students interestad in East Christian

art served as an induceınent for the accumulation and or­dering of available visual matarial for use in Armenian

art courses developed at the American University of Bei­

rut. Thus, in 1973 the author of this report began the Iconographical Index of Armenian Art,as it was first call-·

ed. It quickly advanced beyand the dimensions of an image gathering service for undergraduate students to a research aid for art historians. As tools for categorizing and ar­ranging the ever increasing data became more refined, and as it became clear that with proper resources all illus­

trated material contained in the estiuıated 25,000 surviv­ing Armenian manuscripts could be brought together in a single system, parttime student data collectors and pro­cessers were engaged. Modest university and foundation grants helped maintain the project. In the mid-1970's it became clear that the Index would include watarial wider in scop~ than just the study of Arıneoian iconography based on mini~ture painting and the to the ındex of Arınanian Art. Lebanese 0ivil ~ar, the Index

1975 until early 1977 when it

project's name was changed As a consequence of the

remaine~ inactive from mid­

was transferred via Paris to

California State University, Fresno where it is housed in

the Special Collections seetion of the University library.

From the outset the IAA envisaged including unpub­

lished as well as published mate~ial. This was deemed possible because of the limited quantity of surviving Ar­menian art compared to that of Christian art in its en­tirety. Alsa, though a date li~it of the year 1700 was originally announced, in fact most art up to the twentieth century, and all miniature painting, is indexed. At first the entire I~~ was designed only for manuscript illumina­tions, but with the expansion of the- theoretical scope of the Index, rnanuscript illustration h3s been designated as Part I of the pr~jcct. ~rt in other ınedia is being more casually collected.

' :ı o

. ·,

l.

. '·, ..... ; :~

.:.· .. ,· . . :.

......... ~ ··. :· .· , .·:. ··

~ ,• • i· .

,.

In tlıa current phase of data co llection, cancentra­

tion is on ?art I, especially already published illumina­tions from monograplıs, articles, and manuscript catalogs

of the major collections: Matenadaran, Erevan; Armenian

Fatriarchate, Jerusalem; and the Mekhitarist Libraries of

Venice a nd Vienna. Special, but limited, photographie ex­

pedit i ons have also cont ributed unpublished material. A series of specially designed elassifying aids were

prepared and revised several t ime s f or the manu a l eellee­

tion of the data base of the Index . They a r e listed under seetion I of the following schema .

I iiDEX OF ARMENIAN ART DATA ACCUNUL..ı\TION AIDS I . Physical Components of the Data Base of the IAA

A. Data Sheet s , 8 1/2 x ll inehes (21 x 28 cm)

1 . Manuscript Data Sheet , containing all basic data on the codex an~ listin3 all illuminations

2 . Rapid Viewing Slıeet, each containing a single ......------ ----· image in photocopy form from published work or glossy print, one set arranged iconograph­ically, one set chronologica1ly with Data Sheet

B. Data Cards, 4 x 6 inehes (10~15~) ı. Gcene eard, one for each illumination 2. Manuscript Card, one for each codex, listing

~ each illumination .by folio ~- Bibliographical Card, listing eacb publication

from which il1uminations were indexed

c. Photographie Components

ı. Black and white negative file, ' 35 mm

2. Contact pr oof sheet file, 35 mm , one set f or

mounting on each Scene Card , one fo r ident i f i­

cation of image in negative file

3. Glossy print file, varying formats 4. Color slide file, 35 mm

II. Compur.erization Component of the Data Base of theiAA

In order to make the informa tion co1lected in the Index ıno r e accessible to specialists, the Director has en­de~vored regular1y to issue progress reports ["IIAA: The I corıo ::; raphical Index of Armerıian Art," Journal of Armenian 3tudies, Vol. 1/1 (1975), pp.65-67J, publish chronological f3scicules intended to be comprehensive for the period treated [IAA, Part I, Manu s cript Illumination, Fasciculei,

- ' 4 .j. "' • ..j

. . ,* .~

'·. ; .:· . ' ·- ) .,

-..

~ J : ... ,

. ·'

·-

.. ·. . .... . · . ~· . ' .. ' ;. ,. •,

''·. •''

~ .j ...

: . ,

. . .: ~ .. • ı ..• · .... ·: ··

.:.·.ı, ....

.. '. · .. - . -· ~ .. . ·:

·'· ..

,,, .'·

i·.

·:.· -·.·. 0 ··:, •, M •

.-

.. • ,,

Illuminated Armcnian ~lanuscripta to the 1e~r 1000 A.D.

( lı'resno-I'aris, 1977), 50 pages, i11ustrated, discussed mn. nu seripts w ith soıııe 100 im;.ıges; l!.,ascicu le II, Il lurnin­a t ed Armenian Manuscripts of the 1lth Century,· Preliminary

Heport and 0heck1ist (Fresno , 1979), 8 pages, listed 40

manus c ripts and t heir imagesJ, and present communications at pro f es s ional meetings [By zantine Studies Conferences,

Columbia University (1977) and Dumbarton Oaks (1979), see Abstracts of Papers; Symposi um on By zantine Studi es,

University of Birmingham (1978) , report published in

Arkheion Pontou, Vol. 36 (1979), pp.249-52] .

II. The Objectives of Comnuterization

Compterization was already expressed as a goal in the first public announoement about the Index of Arıneoian

Art in 1973. By the end of 1980, the Index data base in­cluded some 8,000 Scene Cards and mucn sınaller chronolog­ically sorted files of Manuscript Cards and Sheets. This system, however, as oultined n.bove, only allawed for clas& ification by iconographic subject, arranged chrono1ogical-1y in eac~ subgroup, and by date of manuscript and the miniatures contained therein.

~he general expansion of computer facilities and the commonplace acceptability of the printout as an ordinary form of ·ini:prmation dissemination, has c:r-eated a situation where the production of an up-to-date record of a part of the data contained in the IAA, whether a list of illustra~

ted codexes from a given period or a complete record of

any individual iconographic unit, will be more rapidly and

accura t e l y compl et ed by a com~~ than manually. Even vi~

sual examination of data is quicker ·witb the use of a ter­

minal screen than direct inspection of the cards and shee~.

A video terminal alsa a1lows for quick, neat, and effici­ent addition to and/or correction of existing information. Computerization will reduce the ultimate storage facili­ties needed for the Index, especially if reproduced in toto; it will also facilitate the dissemination by simple repro­duction of a duplicate Index which can ba transported to anather localitJ or distributed broadly.

In suınınary, computerization affor~s easy accessibil­ity, quick inspection, rapid correction and addition, port­ability, ~nd fast duplication of the entire system.

\ ' . ; :• '

i : .' ·. -1, . ' ' ! •

.. ·;·· ·· • .. ~i •

'·.

' ··

' .. '•

.· :: .!..:,{~:·;_.~· : - •"': .. ~ ~ . . .

' ..... . , .

',· • ' .

' • "1. : ...... . '. : ·

.. ·· · : . . ~ '. :

. ! . ' . ..

;, ·'.

# •• •

: ":r' .... ~ · ~ :·:.-: ~: ... . ·. ' .; • ~. •, ı : ' .

_ .. ·,.

In addition to these factors, which can be carried

out - even if sornewhat more slowly - manually, the comput­

erized d~t~ base can be used creatively. On command, the

programs can produce various profiles from the stored data which, under the present manual system, would require in­

spection of each card in the f ull Manuscript Card file, or

a n ent ire set of cards for each new category, i.e., a list of mi niaturi s ts or of s c ript oria and the works produced by

e a ch . ~he computer could make accessible a lmost ins tantly

e i ther on a terminal screen or , if necessay , as a p rintout, nearly any combination or permutation of data l ogged in

the system . When the computerization of already existing data is completed (expected date, fall 1982), it will be muclı easier and ultimately less expensive to provide spe­cia lized printouts to scholars and institutions.

Computer technolOBY is maving forward rapidly; sys­tems which store images are now available in two varieties, one which brings up a previously stored slide on command (thou gh storage and maintainance problems limit the vol-um e accomodateable), and the mor e advanced video s tarage systems which re c ord and transmit an image on a screen in the same manner ·as a written test. Though at present the latter are extremely expensive, by the en d of this de c ade the transmission of imagee by this method should become

~

competitive with manual inspection. Currently, inexpen-sive r~productions are supplied by photocopying the Rapid View Sheet s ( I.A.2. of Schema) .

Computerization of the Index of Armenian Art also

has an invaluable didactic use on the CSU F~esno campus

where cours es i n Armenian mini a tu r e painting (and Armenian

a rt and a rchit ecture) are off ered annually. These are gi­

ven in two formats, three times a week during a f~fteen week semester, with enrollment between 10 and 20 students, and/or by an intensive course meeting for 16 hours during two weeks with enrollment averaging 45 students. The po­tenti a l use of the card indexes of the IAA are both too frequent for the director and staff to handle, and too ab­usive on the cards and sheets themselves. Com~rization,

with the use of multiple terminal screens, will allow sev­eral students to have access to the large data base of the I AA almost instantly aııd simultaneously.

It should be pointed out that computerization of the

.... :. ,, ~· :-.,. . ' .

. . .

. :

JY • ' T

·~

~,. . c.

: .

. . ::..

Y :~

Lı.A will not ınean the abandonment of the current manual

filin~ system. ThouGh protective duplicates of the com­

puterized data will be made as well as a printout of the entire system, nevertheless, the card system will be kept

up-to-date should any unforeseeable situation make the

computer unusable or should it by inadvertence dest-r.oy or

damage the stored information.

III. The Computer Program The program was developed in the spring and fall of

1980 in the course of special tuterials given by the au­thor of this communication (who is also Director of the IAA) at California State University, Fresno. The techni­cal aspects of computerization and the details of adapting

the Index to the available compdter was carried out by the Director's student, Arten Avakian. The specialized lang­uage in this seetion J.s dependent in part on Hr. · Avakian 's

draft report, "'rhe Index of Arıneni an Art: Phase One Anal­ysis and Computerization. 11 In early 1981, CSU Fresno is installing its own Control Data Corporation (CDC) Cyber 174 computer, previously shared with other universities in the California State system. The programs deseribed here­in were written using selected langua3e elements of the CDC Fortran Version 5 under the Network Operating System (NOS) Marsian 1, but may ~ave to undargo slight modifica­t~on when used on the ne~ computer operating under NOS

Versiôn 2. The language elements used for the IAA are re-

s tric t ed to standard Fortran (also kno\vn . as Fortran 77) as

deseribed by the American Standards Institute (ANSI) in :r·

document X3. 9-1978. .Sine e no ne of the non-ANSI exten-

sions available under Fortran Version 5 are used, the de­

pendence of software (programming) on a particular bom­

puter configuration will be minimized, and, therefore, the program will be transportabla to any other installation that supports AN3I Fortran.

The intent of Phase One analysis and computer~zation is to develop the fundamental pro6rams or software compon­ents necessary to build a data b3se and wanipulate its contents in accordanca with the present goals of the Index. Later, as software has been su.fficiently used and evalu­ated, the pro~raıns ınay · be revised and e:Kpanded to irıclude any new ideas or additioııal requirements and to resolve any di fficul ties as:wciated .,,ith the earlier version.

.. ·.' . ; : ..

· ~ ' .'

• 1' • •• T •

" ' ' \ , ..

. . ·. ·: ..

. -:.;· .. :· \ .

' .,

::.·,..~,;>. .; · '

: -''!6

· .. ;:;:_..:·:· . ·~ ... .. · ..

,:·,. ·;

,. : .· .... "ı_::~ t •

·." · · . . .... ,'

', . .. · . ı: · ·:-·.: : · . ~ ~. ~:t .. · ' . . ;

.. -::: ··,;:

. '.

.,. . . . ~! . .. __ ... ~ :: .. .

The primary objectives of tiıis initial phase are to

create a data base of the information already included in

the Index and to be able to Qanipulate its contents in a

sirnple and efficient manner. The date must be structured

· so that any of its components can be easily accessed or

crossed-referenced. The Index has been analyzed through i t s manually compiled cards and sheets and its printed

Fasc i cules I (1977) and II (1979), so that any potential problems or omiss i ons may be i dentified and corrected. Because the data base will eventually be ver y l a r g e , the routines that service the structure must be efficient i n order to minimize program execution time. Structured pro­gramıning practices have been followed as much as possible

to produce readable and understandable program codes that otners wi ll be able to modify or expand with a minimum of diff iculty. Th e techniques ernployed in the computeri za­

tion represent thos e considered to be of optimum design, based on present understandins of data handling and the limitations imposed under ANSI Fortran.

The routines are designed in a structured and con­ventional manner so that they can be easily understood by others who become involved in the project. The software is user-oriented with programs which are simple to operate regardless of internal complexity.

_;

A co~pl ete group of data for an illuminated manu­script identifies the codex, deseribes its history and con-struction, and lis t s each of its illuminations . Associ­

ated with each such group is a·bibliography and, when ne­

cessary, explanatory or qualifying comments. This inform­

at i on is coll ectively referred to as an ent ry,·whereas any

one of the above it eıns would const i tute a pa rt i al entry.

The prirnary format for r ecording the data in the IAA is the Manuscript Data Sheet, which (in its revised form) lists a c ~ rnplete data set for each illuminated codex. Data is bruken down into three main categories, manuscript data, illumination data, and comments and biblio6raphy (s e e Table 1 for their relationship). The software is de­si8ned so that information can be coded from this form in

· rou ghly the same order . as it occurs. The same data is alro -

acce s sed i nto the Index t a rou gh the Manuscript and Scene Cards which togethe r c an also be used to prepared the data for input.

........ ; ~. ( .

·'' ·' :._ " ~· ~-

: ı ~ #t ,.. ·• r.

' .. . . '· ' • • j • •• . ,.

r .. _ .... { ' :·

~ . . . . . .

. ... : ... 1 ; :

iresent Location of h S

Calleetion Reference Number 'rext Na teri~l ·

Number o f Fo li os Group ı.

Size General

i.3cript (Empirical)

I~umber of [''iiniatures Information

Harginal Decorations N.ANUSCRIPT f'laterial & Construction DATA

Decoration U pp er C over Decoration Lo w er C over BI ND ING

Decoration Doublure , Date of 3inding Specific Da te of NS f•lS

Da te by ·~u arter Century DATE

Place i:xecuted Group 2.

Seribe Specific

Art i st ( Colophonic) ?atron InforJıation

Binder Scene Depicted .J:ı'olio i':uınber

Size of rıı:"umination

Photo J?ublished? IAA Negative Number ILLUHINATION DATA --Source o i' I.AA Negative

IAA Color Slide? . '! ·

Bource o i IAA .Slide

I.A. .. It Xerox Copy?

Comments COHHEN·rs & BIBLIOGRAPHY Bibliogruphy

Table ı. Data Relationships

The software includes a procedure file which contains the con ~ rol statements necessary to initiate a computer­ized lA~ session. The user, after logging on, need only type ".i3'C: r...a1l IAA.'' to invoke the procedura. Data .files will be aGtached and prepared for access and program execution begun, so that the user will not huve to concern himself \-lith p.:.coperly setting up internal comrnunic;;:.tions (linkage). 'l'he pro ~ ~r :ims theruselves contain instructions intended to

-

' .

' ~ ·

...... •

,,. . .

"

. . .. ~ .

. · ..

~ .. · . ~ .. ' .·

. : ·. ~ ... . ......... ··,. ~. . . .· -~

~· ~,:~- . · ~~ .. . : ·: ... ~< . ~:;. .. ··. ··.:· .·

:·. · .

. ~ .... ' ... . .

' • . . ' . .. ..

,·t. · .

\ ,:r~ :.: <.\\. ,ı .

'·

make tlıei~ use self-explanatory.

'rhe programs are designed to detect input errors and

correct tlıem by default, if possib l e, or request the input line again. It is conc eivable that cer t ain errors have

not been properly anticipated durin~ development, if such errors occ ur a nd cau se premature program termination, a

series of s tat ements in t he proc edure file will make a

copy of the computing session record and bri ng execution

to an orderly halt . The record will be stored i n file and later examined by a programmar who will locate the source of the error, correct it, and determine the point at which to resume operations and minimize work lass. If data is

correct in format, but contains the wrong information, it will be stored as such in the data base and must be cor­rected using the correction and modification routines.

The so f tware presented here was developed after ful­ly analyziııg. the type and frequency of data involved and

the way it must be i nput, stored,and eventually retrieved to determine the most efficient programıning strategies. The software has been tested to verify that it performs as expect ed and to evaluate the programs for clarity and ef­.fectiverıess.

Within this computerization, information is dealt with in discrete components iermed data elements. An entry in the Index consists of a group of such data ele­ments which deseribe a manuscript (or fragment) and its

illuminations, and which provi de explanatory notes or c om-·

ments and a bibliography. The elements are grouped in sets

according to t heir relationships and occurenc e ( Tab l e 1 ) .

The primary method of inputing inforuntion for the

data base is as a complete data cycle which would include

the descriptive information in all three categories. The software is designed so that t h e user may prepare a com­plete cycle as such and enter it as a body. In some cases, however, it may be desirable or even necessary to lnput only a portion of a complete cycle, such as a set of data for a sine le illumination or scene. Any such case would constitute a partial entry. The forms from which the data may be coded and t~e program options to be selected will d.iffer depecıding on whether th e user will be inputing o.

complete data cycle or only a partial entry. An astarisk ad~ed to Dny data element informs the user that quali!ying

,. '

.... ,. : . ,,.

.· ·:: · ..

. ... t •' .~' ,' "> ~ )o • ';' ; •

~- ~- ..... ~ . : "'

.... ...

··':;. • U• ~j: 1

' ··~

r::· . . :. ·. ,

, ' ..

',· •

.. ·. ; . ·' ~. '

.. ı

:·-

,.

, . .

D,·, 'l'A i,:;.Ll:Jl~ill' LI:;t!G'l'll jt i.ı'ul?JIJvr DA-.rA EL.t:ı· ;~:; ·r L.Ei~G·rır FORHAT

Locat;ion f·i:.:J 2 ı~A .Pat ro n 5 ı~.AA.ıL{

Number 5 NNNNN Binder 5 itAAAX

•rext 2 AA Sc en e 2 AA

Nat e riaı ı A Foıio No. 4 NNNX

No . of Fo ıios 3 NNN Siz.e ı A

Size 9 xxxxx:xx.x.x Pub ıished? ı A

Script ı A Negat i ve I~ o . 9 NNNXNNXNN No. f'linia tu res 3 NNN Neg. Source 2 AA

Nargina ı Deco. ı A Coıor sıide? ı A

Construction 3 AAA Sıide Source 2 AA U pp er C over 2 AA Xerox Copy? ı A

LO\ver C over 2 AA Comments ıoo

Doublure Deco. 2 ı\ lı.. Bibıiography 45 Binding Da te 4 xx xx f'IB Da te 7 XX XX XXX * Length in characters

Da te by ı/4 c. 3 NNA A = Alphabetic character

Pb ce Executed 5 AAAAX. N = Nu m eric character

Seribe 5 AA AAX X = Aıphanumeric or speciaı

.ii.rtist 5 AA AAX character

•rab le 2. Data :Element Syntax

remı:ı.rks w~ ll be found u nder '!.comments." The specifics of the data ~roupings (Table l) have

been o~itted on the assumption that they are self-explan-atory to specialis t s. ilowever, a few remarks are in order.

General (empirical) information about the manuscript can

in most cases be determined without the use of colophonic

mat erial, wh erea s the data e l em ent s of Group 2, Specific

Inform <.ition, are us ually derived, in the case of Armenian

ınanuscripts, from colophons, though Group ı information and stylistic and iconographic anaıysis are used when colophons are lacking •

.C.:a.ch data element has a certain s;:rntax in ·.vhich the associated data must be expressed (Table 2). fhis syntax refers to the field length size of an element in terms of tüe nuraber of cl:ıarac ter posi tions it occupies, and the placeırıent and mecı.ninı:; of churacters in t!ıe field. The combinu tions of such characters are si ~nificant and com­pri~e t~e codes ~hich must correspond to tlıose already es~ ablisnud, or canfo r m to rul es for synthesis of new codes.

... : :·· J . ·. - ....

.. ·. · ·,

. \

~. . ' ' .• .

,· ,

. . . ; .

• . . ·

: ':,J • ....

Conclusio n

Tlı c us efulne s s of a computerized Index of Armenian Art should be quickly apparant both for the storage and retrieval of larse quantities of art histarical data and

for the creative manipulation of the information stored. It has not been possible to discuss all of the aspects

of computerization of the IAA within the limits preseribed for this report. It is hoped that at the Byzantine Con­gress itself more detailed comments can be made on subjec~

such as input and output methods, scannins and correcting capabilities of the programs, error handling, transport­

ability, transference. of developed concepts for use with artistic media other than illumination, reusability or

incorporation of the IAA data base in larger projects

such as tne Princeton Index of Christian Art, and the methods for making available IAA data to scholars and institutions.

,, ,'

.' ~