DER MANUELIAN TO PRESENT ARMENIAN SLIDE LECTURE SUNDAY

Belmont Citizen-Herald
Feb 20 2009
MA

Watertown, Mass. – On Sunday, Feb. 22, Dr. Lucy Der Manuelian,
Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Professor Emerita of Armenian Art
and Architectural History in the Department of Art and Art History
at Tufts University, will present a slide lecture at the Armenian
Library and Museum of America (ALMA) in connection with the Museum’s
current exhibit "Who Are the Armenians?" The slide lecture, titled
"Armenia: Mountains, Monuments, Manuscripts and Miracles," will take
place from 2 to 3 p.m.. The event is free and open to the public.

Der Manuelian will show slides that she shot during her many
expeditions to Armenia doing fieldwork and research for months at
a time during the Cold War and afterwards. Some were shot from the
helicopter she managed to obtain from the Soviets for filming her
television documentary on Armenian history and art, which has been
broadcast on 58 PBS television stations in major cities throughout
the United States.

Der Manuelian will discuss Armenian fortresses and churches perched
at the tops of mountains, carved images of kings, princes and saints,
and brilliantly colored illuminated manuscripts created in Armenia
during the Middle Ages. Some are among the most impressive monuments
in the history of art, and an important source of information for
Early Christian, Romanesque and Gothic Art in the West.

Armenia’s history is an international tale and Der Manuelian played a
significant role in the power politics of the Middle Ages, including
the Holy Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire (of which 30 emperors were
of Armenian descent), Western Europe, the Silk Road and especially the
Crusades. As the first country in the world to declare Christianity
its official religion, Armenia battled to survive and to maintain
its own identity, faith and culture. These are expressed through
the unique church architecture in Armenia, the kinds of sculptural
compositions carved on its walls, and the unusual details added to
traditional religious manuscript paintings.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress