Armenian illuminated manuscripts form a separate tradition, related to other forms of Medieval Armenian art, but also to the Byzantine tradition. The earliest surviving examples date from the Golden Age of Armenian art and literature in the 5th century. Early Armenian Illuminated manuscripts are remarkable for their festive designs to the Armenian culture; they make one feel the power of art and the universality of its language. The greatest Armenian miniaturist, Toros Roslin, lived in the 13th century.
The Matenadaran Institute in Yerevan has the largest collection of Armenian manuscripts, including the Mugni Gospels and Echmiadzin Gospels. The second largest collection of Armenian illuminated manuscripts is stored in the depository of St. James Cathedral, of the Holy Apostolic Church’s Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Other collections exist in the British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and other large collections at the Mechitarist establishments in Venice and Vienna, as well as in the United States. The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) keeps an Armenian illuminated manuscript dating back to the 14th century among its collection of Armenian manuscripts, which is one of the largest in the world. They also have the manuscript of the Gladzor Gospels (cf. University of Gladzor).

Inspired by the Armenian khachkars (cross stones) ruined by Azeris in Nakhichevan.
In 2005 the Azerbaijani authorities destroyed the Armenian cemetery in the city of Jugha in Nakhichevan with its thousands of valuable khachkars. They were displaced and broken by the use of construction equipment and thereby used as construction material, while the vacated area of the cemetery was turned into a military school. Thus, the Azerbaijani authorities have proven that they are capable of pursuing their policy of ethnic cleansing by destroying Armenian historical traces.