Preliminary Study of the Architecture and the Plastic Arts of the Zak'are Church in the Inner Castle (Aghjkaberd) of Ani (original) (raw)

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.

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.

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.

The Architecture of the Armenian Church and Convent

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. However, the elegance of the edifice as well as the high technical quality of the executed masonry tells a different tale. It testifies for the intended sophistication of the building, which was certainly more than a mere blank canvas for the (later) application of a painted cycle. 2 In consequence, a more in-detail appraisal of the architecture seems promising in several kinds of aspects. In its first part, this brief study intends to highlight the architectural characteristics of the church and their accordance or discordance with other churches of medieval Famagusta and the crusader territories. This evidence will then be used to evaluate previously proposed dates of erection. The second part will focus on the surrounding structures, today all but disappeared, and attempt the reconstruction of their

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.

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...

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.

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.

The Impact of the Constructive Solution on the Formation of the Portal in the Architecture of Armenian Churches of 4th-7th Centuries

Journal of Architectural and Engineering Research, 2021

The article refers to the issues of decorative elements in architecture. The aim of the paper was to reveal the interaction peculiarities of the constructive and artistic solutions of the formation of the portals of the Armenian churches of 4th-7th centuries. The analysis of the process of formation allowed for carrying out the typological classification of the portals from the point of view of the transformation and development of the lintel construction. The classification showed that the portal created as a decoration of the entrance, as a result of the evolution of compositional-structural components was transformed into a unified constructive-artistic element, which has become the main type used in the later periods of the Armenian medieval architecture. The revealed features of the interaction of decorative and structural elements can be useful in the field of heritage studies and in the development of further works on the formation of decorative elements.