ART HISTORY: EARLY  CHRISTIAN FRESCOES

 

In ancient times, frescoes and mosaic were a symbol of wealth and power. Only the very rich could afford them. They were exclusively found in royal palaces, nobility houses, temples and a limited number of recreational centers. In many instances, frescoes and mosaic made a statement. A public statement. They did send a message to the natives and foreign countries. A message of culture, education, art and most certainly a message of prosperity, wealth, economic prosperity and military might. Now, in the early times of Christian Armenia, those religious frescoes will serve another purpose. In fact, one single purpose: The Christian faith. Ironically enough, Armenia as the first Christian kingdom to denounce and forbid imageries, pictures and statues in churches and monasteries, later became the world’s largest custodian and depository of religious relics, imageries, illustrated manuscripts, icons, religious paintings,  crosses carved stones, religious statues and Christian decorative and ornamental memorabilia. In fact, the once upon a time forbidden tabooed pagan tradition of sculpting deities in stone and marble became Armenia’s favorite tool, medium and symbol of its religious fervor. The Katchkars are Armenian cross carved stones. But, those stones symbolize the eternal life in Jesus Christ. They represent the strong Armenian Christian Faith and remarkable Armenian religious fervor. The katchkars are Armenia!

 

CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF EARLY CHRISTIAN FRESCOES.                                                                                                                      6^th CENTURY AND 7^th Century Frescoes and Murals

Photo: An Armenian Christian fresco depicting a saint on his horse.

 Two early churches, Church of Saint Gregory in Arudsh and Church of Saint Stephen in Lmbat contained the best preserved medieval Armenian frescoes. A great number of medieval frescoes rapidly deteriorated through the ages because of neglect, lack of funds, constant attacks by Muslims and non Christian countries from Asia Minor and the Middle East. The invasions of Armenia by the Mongols, Arab, Turks and Persians prevented the Armenians from taking care of their frescoes, maintaining them in good condition and furthermore from painting new ones. Unfortunately, Almost all the frescoes of pre-Christian Armenia vanished except one block of a fresco-mosaic uncovered under the floor of a Greco-Roman bath at the Temple of Gerni. Fortunately, a great number of Christian frescoes survived but, not enough number from the early Christian era. The art of frescoes in Armenia was seriously interrupted by the invading Ottomans. And the Arabs did cause a severe halt to Armenian art of frescoes under the pretext that those “blasphemous” drawings were nothing but the product of the “infidels” and consequently, they must be destroyed for good. Armenian artists and artisans were not at liberty to continue their craft. Yet, a small number of them managed to produce splendid frescoes and mosaics in the secrecy of monasteries located in remote and mountainous areas. This was in a sharp contrast with Greeks and Romans who encouraged Armenian artists and artisans to persevere in their arts and crafts, including but not limited to stone carving, lace making, leather manufacturing, candles production, mosaics and frescoes painting. The art of Armenian frescoes came back to life in the early 10^th century and continued to develop throughout the 11^th century. The resurrection of the Armenian art of frescoes in those two centuries took place and time under a free Armenian kingdom which was restored and reigned during the 11^th and 12^th centuries.

 

ART HISTORY

CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF EARLY CHRISTIAN FRESCOES

BETWEEN 921 and 930 A.D.

Photos from L to R: #1. : Interior fresco: The Second Coming 915-921, church of the Holy Cross, Aght'amar. Photo: Club Unesco des Arméniens, Lyon. #2. Fresco depicting Saint Peter and  Saint Paul,  Tatev Monastery, 930. Photo credits:  Patrick Donabedian

Between 920 and 930, a good number of frescoes was produced and a greater number of churches began to enjoy some of the finest frescoes ever produced. Two churches in particular, the Church of Paul and Peter  in Tatev and the Church of The Holy Cross in Akhtamar were delightfully decorated with splendid frescoes depicting several passages of Jesus Christ life and scenes where He has been surrounded by John, Luke, Mark and Matthew. Other frescoes were characterized by religious symbolism which represented the foresaid evangelists with animal figures. For instance, Matthew was represented by a holy man, John was represented by an eagle, Luke was represented by calf, and Mark was represented by a lion. In addition to their religious symbolism, a mixture of an early Christian surrealism mythology, prophetic biblical visions, those magnificent  had additional visionary dimensions and artistic levels; they shined through colors limpidity and serene composition uncluttered with complicated religious or cult  motifs and thick borders which defined for a long time in history the characteristic features of early Armenian arts. Later on, this religious symbolism will become more frequent in the illuminated manuscripts paintings of Toros Roslin and painters of the era. In Medieval ages, the principal center of culture, and particularly painting, was the capital city of Ani, the city of 1,001 churches.. In its ruins there are extant paintings on the walls of the still standing churches, among them the magnificent church of St. Gregory the Illuminator (1,215). Photographs taken as recently as 1910 give a clear view of the graphic quality of these paintings and of their tense and uneasy tonality.

Photos from L to R: #1. Interior frescoes, St. Gregory and King Trdat, 1,215, Tigran Honents, Ani. Photo credits: Ara Güler. #2.  Frescoes at the Underground City of Ani .

 

ART HISTORY: CHRONOLOGY OF EARLY CHRISTIAN FRESCOES

BETWEEN 1,220 AND 1,236 A.D.

Between 1,220 and 1, 236 A.D. Armenia witnessed the dark age for her arts and autonomy.  The Seljuk Turks who invaded Armenia were ferocious. Their occupation years decimated Armenian arts but failed to create artistic anarchy  and chaos in the mind of Armenian artists and artisans. Armenian artists were harassed, captured and tortured for simply  being of a Christian faith. During the Ottoman occupation, they were unable to continue with their crafts and arts. Almost all aspects of artistic creativity were annihilated including the industry of ceramics, pottery, lace making, stone carving, paintings and frescoes. In addition, Armenia was constantly attacked and ravaged by other conquering and atrocious armies such as the Persians, the Arabs and the Mongols. Fearing for their lives, frescoes artists and artisans fled major cities and sought refuge in far distant monasteries. The destructive invasions of Armenia by the Seljuk Turks and Mongols, which began in 1220 and ended in 1236 with the occupation of Armenia, were followed by four centuries of incessant wars between the Ottoman Turks and the Persians. But the scholar monks who had sought refuge in the remote monasteries continued to teach the younger generation to write, to copy and to illustrate manuscripts on vellum. Following the destructive and repeated attacks by the Seljuk Turks and Mongols, all artistic activity in Armenia came to an end. Large sections of the population fled from the homeland. The Armenian immigrants, wherever they were settled, soon began to resume their spiritual and cultural activities. During the Crusades, the Armenian families that had settled in Cilicia established on an independent kingdom which lasted for three centuries (11th-14th) and which became a dominant cultural center especially in the fields of miniature painting and of calligraphy.

ARMENIAN MONASTERIES TO SHELTER AND PROTECT FRESCOES ARTISTS

Thanks to the Armenian monasteries, a great number of frescoes artists were able to carry on with their art to a certain degree because they were deprived from all the tools they needed, the materiel and raw materials. In addition, even those remote monasteries were subject to periodic attacks by the Ottomans. Armenian artists were not safe at home. The following four centuries of war between the Persians and the Ottomans devastated the  frescoes art, industry, business and its expansion. Historical accounts revealed that many Armenian frescoes artists and decorative arts artisans were captured by the Ottomans and sent to Istanbul and major Turkish cities to decorate imperial palaces and public edifices. At that time, it did not pay to be known as a good frescoes artist. However, determined Armenian artists whom their religious faith in Christianity and genuine love for their art did not crack under foreign occupations. Those who were not captured, jailed or murdered  by the Mongols and the Turks, took refuge in monasteries, and under the auspices of monks persevered in their art and continued to create frescoes and teach a new generation of frescoes artists. Side by side, Armenian artists and monks preserved the Armenian spirit, traditions and culture by teaching children and a whole new generation of  young Armenians how to read the Gospels, how to write, how to carve, how to copy and how to illustrate manuscripts on vellum and how to create frescoes. This is how the art of frescoes survived in Armenia. It found refuge, shelter and sanctuary in Armenian monasteries. If the word University is to be applied to a center of learning, quite appropriate and proper would it be to call those medieval Armenian monasteries as the FIRST CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITIES AND CENTERS OF HIGHER LEARNING.

Photo: Ascension by Arakel, 1,356, Surkhat. Photo credits: Matenadaran.

UNDER THE SELJUKS AND MONGOLS: For years, during the constant attacks by the Seljuk Turks and  the Mongols, Armenian arts ceased to exist. It was the brutal end of a the great Armenian artistic creativity. Thousands of Armenians fled the homeland. Prosperous markets shops shut down their doors and went out of business. Schools were not allowed to open in Armenian cities.  Valuable goods and products were seized and confiscated by the Turks. This was the dark age of Armenia under the domination of the Seljuks.

 IN THE 14^th CENTURY: A vibrant Armenian colony was created in Crimea. In the city of Theodosia the Armenians built 28 churches. The churches of Holy Stephanos in Theodosia and of the Holy Cross monastery in Surkhat were decorated with frescoes, the copies of which are exhibited in the Gallery. They bear evidence that Armenian masters who settled in the new lands did not forget their national traditions.

ARRIVAL OF THE CRUSADERS: Fortunately with the arrival of the Crusaders, Armenian artists revitalized their artistic spirit and commenced to paint again, to illustrate and to make frescoes. With the settlements of immigrant Armenians on the plateau of new Cilicia, a new hope of independence and artistic freedom saw the light. Cilicia became a formidable kingdom and a dominant center for arts and culture, thus giving rebirth and prosperity to the art of frescoes, iconography and illuminated manuscripts paintings.

 

ART HISTORY: FRESCOES FROM THE THEODOSIA ERA TO THE 18th CENTURY

THE NEW COLONY THEODOSIA

Armenian immigrants created a new colony  in the Crimean city of Theodosia near the Black Sea and where they erected twenty eight churches.  Theodosia is the natal city of Aivazovsky. Among the most famous Armenian religious centers housing splendid frescoes were the Church of St. Theodosia, the Church of St.  Stephanos in Theodosia and the Church of the Holy Cross  in Surkhat.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF ST. THEODOSIA HISTORICAL PASSAGES

Armenian colonists built a monastery and a very imposing church consecrated to St. Theodosia who had suffered a martyr's death in 729 during the Iconoclast period. The martyrdom of the Armenian saint and martyr  is closely associated with the mosaic icon of Jesus Christ placed above the Chalke Gate. Byzantine accounts tell about a group of courageous  women led by Theodosia who objected to the imperial decision of the iconoclast Emperor Leo III (717-741) to have the historical icon of Jesus Christ removed. The fearless women group assaulted  the soldiers following Theodosia who went after a soldier who climbed a ladder to reach for the  Jesus Christ icon and destroy it.  St. Theodosia was killed  in that battle and her relic was brought to Dexiokratos. Early Armenian historians reported that in virtue of a considerable number of miracles which occurred at St. Theodosia grave,  the Armenian church renamed the church of St. Euphemia as the church of St. Theodosia. Historian Ducas told us the story of barbaric and atrocious events which occurred in the church, while the  Armenian congregation was celebrating the feast-day of St. Theodosia. On May 29th 1,453, the Turks entered the church and slaughtered every single worshiper in the church including the elderly, women and children. After the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans,  the church became a military depot and under sultan Selim II, the church of St. Theodosia was transformed into a mosque.

IN THE 17^th CENTURY AND THE 18^th CENTURY