The Architecture of the Armenian Church and Convent (original) (raw)

The Architecture of the Armenian Church and Convent, Famagusta

M.J.K. Walsh (ed.), The Armenian Church of Famagusta and the Complexity of Cypriot Heritage, 2017

Until recently, the architecture of the Armenian Church has played a subordinate role in the study of the building, rather marginalized by the importance of the painted interior decoration as well as the intriguing historical context. 1 The church is indeed modest in size, of a simple typology-a single, short nave with an apse-and only sparsely decorated with sculpted elements.

Architectural Decoration of the Armenian Churches of the 7th and the 10th–11th Centuries and Their Presumably Sasanian Sources. P. 75-91.

Sasanian Elements in Byzantine, Caucasian and Islamic Art and Culture, Neslihan Asutay-Effenberger, Falko Daim (Hrsg.), Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident, 15. Mainz, , 2019

A century ago, Josef Strzygowski considered that Armenian architecture played a transitional role between Iranian domed structures and Byzantine constructions of the Justinian epoch (6th century). Nowadays, some points of that almost forgotten theory require revision and further consideration. But several ideas of the famous scholar deserve our attention. In particular, it is important to deepen the study of the probable Sasanian origins of some decorative motives and relief images of medieval Armenian architecture taking into consideration their new meaning in the context of Christian culture. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of the Sasanian elements in the decoration system of Armenian churches of the 7th and the 10th-11th centuries, the periods of the highest development of national architecture, when it revealed the closest relationships with the Byzantine tradition. At the same time Armenian architecture interpreted both the Graeco-Roman and several local architectural peculiarities. The decoration of the domes in the interior of the 7th-century Armenian churches and the order-like blind arcades of the facades of the monuments of the Late Antique and Bagratid periods reveal Sasanian iconographic origins. Also, some ornaments and a range of mythical creatures on the reliefs and other features, such as the carpet-like curved ceilings of the zhamatun (narthex) of the Hoṙomos monastery, reflect the artistic characteristics of the Sasanian and early Islamic Iranian architecture.

Kazaryan A., Mikayelyan L. Architectural Decorations of Armenian Churches of the 7th and the 10th-11th Centuries and Their Presumably Sasanian Sources

Sasanian Elements in Byzantine, Caucasian and Islamic Art and Culture, F. Daim, N. Asutay-Effenberger (Eds.) (Byzanz zwischen Orient und Okzident, vol. 15), Propylaeum, Heidelberg, 2020

A century ago, Josef Strzygowski considered that Armenian architecture played a transitional role between Iranian domed structures and Byzantine constructions of the Justinian epoch (6th century). Nowadays, some points of that almost forgotten theory require revision and further consideration. But several ideas of the famous scholar deserve our attention. In particular, it is important to deepen the study of the probable Sasanian origins of some decorative motives and relief images of medieval Armenian architecture taking into consideration their new meaning in the context of Christian culture. The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of the Sasanian elements in the decoration system of Armenian churches of the 7th and the 10th-11th centuries, the periods of the highest development of national architecture, when it revealed the closest relationships with the Byzantine tradition. At the same time Armenian architecture interpreted both the Graeco-Roman and several local architectural peculiarities. The decoration of the domes in the interior of the 7th-century Armenian churches and the order-like blind arcades of the facades of the monuments of the Late Antique and Bagratid periods reveal Sasanian iconographic origins. Also, some ornaments and a range of mythical creatures on the reliefs and other features, such as the carpet-like curved ceilings of the zhamatun (narthex) of the Hoṙomos monastery, refect the artistic characteristics of the Sasanian and early Islamic Iranian architecture.

"Holy Mother of God Armenian Church in Famagusta," with "Arm. Mss Colophons from Famagusta & Cyprus," & "Notes by M. Bardswell, 1937, Courtauld Institute," Medieval & Renaissance Famagusta: Studies in Architecture, Art & History, M. Walsh, P. Edbury, N. Coureas, eds., Ashgate, 2012, 133-46, 301-9.

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Some Motives of the Decoration of the Monuments of Early Medieval Armenian Architecture

Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Architecture: Heritage, Traditions and Innovations (AHTI 2021), 2021

The following article concerns the very important aspect of the early medieval art of Armenia, namely the decoration motives of the monuments of the Early Medieval architecture, and their relations with the early Christian and early Byzantine monuments. The centuries-old political and cultural ties with the Eastern Roman Empire have left their mark on the monuments of the artistic culture of Armenia. In particular, this concerns the variety of ornamental motifs that were widely used in the Hellenistic and Roman monuments, after the Christian culture inherited them and through it reached all ends of the Eastern Christian world. In Armenian early medieval architecture these ornamental motifs were the important part of the inner and outer decoration of churches, martyria, as well as stelae, khachkars, etc. In this article, several new decorative motifs that were not considered earlier are highlighted, or they were known in general, however they hadn't been explored from the point of view of their origins and artistic parallels. A new approach could be considered the compositions single out from this point of view on the early khachkars, on the window moldings of the Ptghni church and the acanthus band of the Aruch church, as well as the vine scroll motif on the facades of the Church of the Holy Cross of Aghtamar similar to early Christian decorative compositions of the floor mosaics and sarcophagi.

The Church in the Village of Krym and Its Place in the Architecture of Don Armenians

The 5th International Conference on Art Studies: Research, Experience, Education (ICASSEE 2021), 2021

The research of peculiarities of the architecture of a less-studied monument of architecture of Don Armenians, the church of Amenaprkich (All-Savior) in the village of Krym (Topty), 1895-1902, is aimed to the understanding of its place in the architecture of Don Armenians and in the shaping of the Armenian style of the Modern Time. The analysis of the composition and decoration of this church reveals bright talents of its anonymous architect. The singularity of this monument provides it a special place on the background of the development of Russian, and Armenian architecture. On one hand, the typology of the church in Krym is a simplified model of the inner composition of the Ejmiatsin Cathedral. On the other hand, its faç ade decoration has the most similarity to the Surb Karapet Church in Nakhichevan-on-Don. Borrowing a rare feature of the faç ade design of a drawing from the album by D.I. Grimm makes the church in Krym related to this monument of Nakhichevan-on-Don, testifies to the popularity of this album of drawings of Armenian and Georgian monuments. The creative search for a new language of Armenian architecture by architects and customers was complicated with the development of several style trends in the country, which enriched the palette and scope of creative searches. Amenaprkich is an example of the development along the path of incrementing the features of traditional Armenian-Georgian architecture to the Classicist and generally eclectic Russian architecture of the period in question.

Some Motives of the Decoration of the Monuments of Early Medieval Armenian Architecture The Question of Relations with Early Christian Iconography

Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Architecture: Heritage, Traditions and Innovations (AHTI 2021) (Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, volume 600), 2021

The following article concerns the very important aspect of the early medieval art of Armenia, namely the decoration motives of the monuments of the Early Medieval architecture, and their relations with the early Christian and early Byzantine monuments. The centuries-old political and cultural ties with the Eastern Roman Empire have left their mark on the monuments of the artistic culture of Armenia. In particular, this concerns the variety of ornamental motifs that were widely used in the Hellenistic and Roman monuments, after the Christian culture inherited them and through it reached all ends of the Eastern Christian world. In Armenian early medieval architecture these ornamental motifs were the important part of the inner and outer decoration of churches, martyria, as well as stelae, khachkars, etc. In this article, several new decorative motifs that were not considered earlier are highlighted, or they were known in general, however they hadn't been explored from the point of view of their origins and artistic parallels. A new approach could be considered the compositions single out from this point of view on the early khachkars, on the window moldings of the Ptghni church and the acanthus band of the Aruch church, as well as the vine scroll motif on the facades of the Church of the Holy Cross of Aghtamar similar to early Christian decorative compositions of the floor mosaics and sarcophagi.

A fidelity made of stone. The Armenian Architecture seen from the Vayots-Dzor’ fringe

2020

This research focuses on medieval architectures in the Armenian region of Vayots Dzor. The research mission is carried out since 2014 by the University of Florence, School of Architecture. In this paper, we show the results of a part of this research focusing on ancient buildings in the cities of Areni, Noravank and Yegheghis. We propose a series of unpublished cartographic elaborations showing the main flows of spreading of architectural typologies in Armenia, and then we focus on the analysis of the main religious structures of the village of Yegheghis. These analyses are based on architectural graphic elaborations to investigate the architectural Design, Space and Composition of medieval Armenian structures. The aim is to highlight the elements that define their architectural shape: the compositional rules, the structural design and the relationships between plan and elevation. Starting from the architectural analysis on religious buildings, we investigate the Armenian architect...