Armenian art has been profoundly influenced by Armenian culture, Armenia's long history, ever-changing geography and unique mountainous landscape. 

One of the most important periods of Armenian art was that from the ninth to the sixth centuries BC. Armenia was, at this point in history, the Kingdom of  Van or Urartu. Citadels, temples, irrigation canals, carved stone seals, glass, ceramics, jewelry and arms were characteristic of Urartu's artistic endeavors. The Urartians were major producers of bronze objects. Excavation at the Urartian site of Karmir-Blur, begun in 1939 and continuing even today has resulted in the discovery of many household utensils, furniture decorations and pieces of military equipment such as helmets, arrows and shields fashioned out of bronze. 

 

Urartian smiths were also very skilled in the use of silver and gold. Vases, medallions

and amulets were fashioned from silver while gold was used to create articles of jewelry.

The smiths of this time are best remembered for their skill in decorating metal with

mythological and animal forms. 

 

The intrinsic value of these metals made them prime targets for invaders who

periodically looted the country. For this reason, metalwork of other periods cannot

be documented as well. 

 

                                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                              Tigran the Great 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                Tetradrachma, Reverse, 95-55 B.C. 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Photo: Ara Güler 

                                                                  In the 4th and 5th centuries AD very important events in Armenian history greatly

                                                                       affected the arts. As Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as its

                                                                      official religion in 301-303 AD, Christian iconography came to play a very important

                                                                      role in Armenian art and architecture. Also, after the creation of the Armenian

                                                                      alphabet in 405-406 AD by Mesrop Mashtotz, the written word helped to developed

                                                                     the Armenian language, literature and arts. The Bible was able to be translated into

                                                                     Armenian, thus increasing the importance of Christianity in Armenian art. The written

                                                                     word also allowed for the development of the art of the illuminated manuscript.

                                                                     Armenian scribes began to copy and translate Christian texts onto parchment adding

                                                                     to them symbolic illustrations and introductory folios. These manuscripts were then

                                                                     used in religious services. 

       Bible, 1645. First page of Genesis. 
       Jerusalem, Armenian Patriarchate

 

Churches soon became the main mode of Armenian architectural expression.

The seventh century is often referred to as the "golden age of Armenian

ecclesiastical architecture." A great many cathedrals and monuments with

interior frescoes and stone carvings pertaining to the Biblical stories were

constructed. In the 10th century, for instance, the Church of the Holy Cross

was erected on Aghtamar Island with exterior sculpture and relieves of Biblical

subjects and interior frescoes of the like. The Aghtamar frescoes are the only

surviving example of medieval Armenian murals still including the full repertoire         

 covered porches on east and west, VIIth century.    

 

Monasteries, founded in the 10th century, grew as important artistic centers.

Illuminated manuscripts, a major component of Armenian art history, were created and assembled into books here. Today, the largest collection of these can be found in Yerevan's famed Matenadaran. These manuscripts came to be known for their festive grandeur, demonstrating a continuity that links Armenia's Middle Ages with her earlier periods. The twelfth to fourteenth centuries witnessed the development of manuscript illumination into the art of book illustration. Manuscripts became smaller, no longer for use in religious services. These more elaborately designed and varied works were now for private use in the libraries of monasteries and homes.

These monasteries also provided for the production of khatchkars (literally, "cross stones"), constructions unparalleled in the world of art. These carved stones were most commonly used as gravestones as well as to mark victories, foundations of villages, the completion of a church and the like. For all their diversity, the basic khatchkar design was always the same, the Cross being the central object often surrounded by elaborate ornamentation. These carvings attained artistic excellence in the ninth to eleventh centuries. They were originally created as an assertion of faith in Christ; and popular belief attributed to these monuments' powers of protection against earthquakes, droughts and the like. The study of khatchkars and illuminated manuscripts reveals the devotion of Armenian artists to ornament, almost unique in Christian culture. Khatchkars can be seen throughout Armenia even today. 

 

                                                                     In the 16th century, changes in social and political life resulted in the dramatic                                                                                            alteration of Armenian culture and art. At this time, Armenia lost her independence                                                                              and was divided between the empires of Turkey and Persia for the next 250 years.                                                                                    Armenian architecture and related arts virtually disappeared during this period.                                                                                        Armenian monasteries, churches and schools were built only outside of Armenia.                                                                                    Slowly, the traditional art of manuscript illumination gave way to printing. This new                                                                            method of making and copying text was first introduced in Armenia in the year                                                                                        1512. It was in the year 1666 that the Bible was printed in Armenian by the cleric                                                                                        Father Voskan in Amsterdam. 

                                                         

From the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, the orientation of art turned increasingly to that of everyday life. The minor arts such as carpet and lace-making developed into well-known crafts. These arts were inspired by sculpture, architecture, and painting . The creative impulse is quite evident in the surviving examples of metalwork of earlier centuries, in the carved doors of monasteries and in the fine collections of Armenian carpets found in the museums of Yerevan. Lace adorned the homes and costumes of Armenian women. These women also donated their lacework for the adornment of church altars and the costumes of the clergy. 

The best known Armenian embroidery , made in the city of Marash, is noted for its rich and cheerful colors and its satin stitch. Common in the designs of Marash embroidery are flowers and tiny animals, particularly the rooster.

 

The art of carpet-making has existed in Armenia since the fifth century BC.

But, perhaps the most noteworthy period of Armenian rug weaving is that

of the thirteenth century. The great "dragon" rugs showing indigenous designs

resembling highly stylized dragons woven into a latticework of plant and animal

forms were created during this period. They are among the most original and

abstract creations in textiles. 

Early in the nineteenth century when the sultans of Turkey wanted to establish

rug weaving around Constantinople, it was the Armenian master weavers whom

they called upon to do so. 

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Kutahia (now in Turkey) became a pottery and

ceramics Center. Art experts have contributed the entire output of this area to

Armenian potters. This attribution is confirmed by Armenian inscriptions found    

on the works, the characteristic representation of saints on the pieces and the                 Shirak, Author Keshishian, 195x130 1939

treatment of ceramic tiles both purely decorative and religious. These wares

were apparently commissioned by Armenian churches and individuals and

played an important part both in everyday life and as architectural decoration.

 

 

                                                                    In the 19th century we see the development of new trends in art both in Armenia                                                                                    and in the world as a whole. With the annexation of Eastern Armenia by Christian                                                                                  Russia in 1828 after the Russian-Persian war, the situation changed for the better.                                                                                    Armenian writers and artists were seized by the liberating ideas of Romanticism                                                                                      and, although most of them lived outside Armenia, their works seemed to recreate                                                                                 their native land, the "heavenly country," towards which their gaze was always                                                                                           turned. As in ancient times, Armenian culture moved on in close conjunction with                                                                                 European and Russian cultures, and thus, Armenian art reflected the stages and                                                                                       stylistic trends through which European art passed.

 

 

 

 

Ceramic pieces from Kutahia, XVIII century

 

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