Armenia’s resilient religious heritage celebrated in major Louvre exhibition
JENNY BARCHFIELD
AP Worldstream
Published: Mar 02, 2007
Mongolian dragons, Persian peacocks and Arabic stars are just some of
the motifs that embellish Armenia’s sacred Christian relics _ showing
how the oft-invaded nation has drawn on outside influences to
strengthen its own identity.
A new exhibition at the Louvre Museum showcases the resilience of
Armenian culture. "Armenia Sacra," which runs through May 21, brings
together more than 200 of the country’s most spectacular religious
objects, many of which survived _ and fed off of _ centuries of
foreign domination.
Armenia was long tucked between the rival Roman and Persian empires,
and later dominated by Russian and Soviet ones.
"They’re stuck right in the middle of things," said Ioanna Rapti, one
of the exhibit’s curators. "They borrowed foreign tastes, motifs and
symbols, adapting them to fit their own culture."
Objects in the exhibition _ which include dozens of manuscripts, a
national specialty _ come from museums throughout Armenia and
beyond. Relatively small and portable, manuscripts were often taken
abroad by Armenians fleeing the recurring invasions.
Other times, they were removed from the country for more sinister
reasons.
"When hostile powers pillaged Armenia, they often took manuscripts
hostage," Rapti said. "Armenians had to pay large ransoms to get them
back."
Thank goodness they did. The exhibit’s manuscripts, with their
intricate texts and hand-painted miniatures, are stunning. They are
also a remarkable record of Armenian thought, culture and history.
Widely considered to be the world’s oldest Christian state, Armenia
adopted Christianity as its national faith in 301 A.D. A thick, 1569
volume tells the fable of the country’s conversion: In a
color-drenched miniature, a monk appears to cast a spell over boar
draped in the purple cloak of royalty. The monk is Saint Gregory, who
would become Armenia’s patron; the wild pig represents the country’s
4th century king, Tiridate IV, who legend has became a boar after he
persecuted early Christians. He supposedly recovered his human form
upon embracing Christianity, which he made the state religion.
A miniature from a 1776 manuscript depicts a 5th century monk,
national hero Mesrop Mashtots, hunched over a desk, developing the
Armenian alphabet. Mashtots looks hard at work, though legend has it
all he did was copy down the letters God revealed to him.
The alphabet is at the heart of Armenian identity. The rounded,
horseshoe-shaped letters emblazon not only the manuscripts, but also
more unlikely objects like reliquaries, pulpits and carved doors.
Other objects testify to the imprint left by Mongolian, Ottoman and
Arab invaders.
Chinese dragons grimace from the yellowing page of a 13th century
manuscript. The dragon is thought to have entered Armenia on the backs
of Mongolian invaders, delicately embroidered on their silk gowns.
Arab-influenced stars radiate across a 12th century monastery door,
while exotic animals like elephants, peacocks and unicorns march
around its walnut frame.
The exhibit also features some 30 "khatchkars" _ massive stone slabs
carved with lace-fine crosses _ that dotted the Armenian plateau as
early as the 4th century. Some were tombstones.
One, the Djulfe Khatchkar, comes from a cemetery in Nakhichevan, an
enclave of neighboring Azerbaijan separated from the rest of the
country by Armenian territory. Armenia claims Azerbaijani soldiers
have systematically destroyed Armenian crosses there over the past few
years. The issue is sensitive, and last year, Azerbaijani officials
denied a report that the cemetery had vanished.
Rapti said the Djulfe Khatchkar is one of the cemetery’s few
survivors.
"It’s not politically correct to say this, but what makes it doubly
tragic is that the destruction is so recent," she said.
The exhibition is part of the so-called year of Armenia in France, an
initiative promoting Armenian culture. French President Jacques Chirac
and his Armenian counterpart President Robert Kocharian inaugurated
the exhibit, which Chirac called "sublime."
It "shows the singularity of Armenian civilization, which throughout
its tumultuous history gave the world masterpieces," the French leader
said.
For curator Rapti, the show is helping to boost Armenian moral.
"It shows they are not alone, although they are a little country with
very little power," she said.