Armenian Christian art
August 12, 2010, 9:18 am
Posted by Joseph A. Komonchak
With a tip from Golias on-line, I found these beautiful examples of Armenian Christian art. These and many more can be found here. I am still trying to figure out how to download an image of a very dramatic Stoning of St. Stephen that you can find in a slide show here (voice-over in Persian).
Last Supper
Washing of the Feet
Pentecost
Interesting how closely the image of “Pentecost” resembles Ethiopian Coptic art. Any connections?
I could not get the picture in the slideshow, but there is another at:
http://www.armenica.org/collection/church/St%20Stepanos-Joulfa/stepanos-d20-sha-off.jpg
Lots more of the monastery of St Stepanos at http://www.armenica.org. The photo above was under “Decorations”. Page 2 there has a great image of the Annunciation? Resurrection? Angel, woman, dove, whatever it represents.
Thanks! Looking at these images was a great way to start the day.
Very interesting cruciform on the table in the Last Supper. There are only 11 apostles at the table. So is Judas the character in the lower right? Interesting that he still has a halo …
Ms. S. –
I noticed that one of the very last items on JAK’s post (3-4 to the last) that a stone angels has very Negroid features — very short wide nose and bushy hair, an Afro they used to call such a cut. Hmm,
At home I have a dozen or so Armenian tiles with biblical scenes done by an Armenian Christian whose family originally came to Jerusalem to work on the tiles for the Dome of the Rock; they did not get the commission because they were Christian. The family still remained in Jerusaelm and their descendents have a shop on the Via Dolorosa across the street from the Little Sisters of Jesus. They are quite beautiful. Anyone who makes it to Jerusalem should stop by and see these rather inexpensive tiles. They make wonderful gifts. There used to be another tile shop in the Armenian Quarter but they closed up and went into the Armenian Diaspora.
And in the washing of the feet image there also are twelve haloed apostles. Still, the fellow in the upper left seems to have his hand on something (a moneybag?) and looks a bit sneaky.
The Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem has a good selection of old and newer art. There are ethnic Armenian artisans working there doing beautiful work. Years ago at the Christian Information center (outside of the Armenian Quarter) I bought an amazing hand-carved cross that I will always treasure.