ARMENIAN INSTITUTE - Lecture

THE IMPACT OF ARMENIA ON BYZANTIUM
Rev Dr V N Nersessian

Sunday, 25 January 2009, at 5:00 pm
Nevart Gulbenkian Hall, Iverna Gardens, London W8
(Tube: High Street Kensington)

Dr Vrej Nersessian (Ter Nerses Nersessian), Head of the Christian Middle
East Section in the British Library will present a brief history of the
Armenian connections in Byzantium, as shown in the current exhibition at the
Royal Academy of Arts, Byzantium 330-1453.  Dr Nersessian selected the
objects and wrote the commentaries to the Exhibition Catalogue. The lecture
will be illustrated with slides.

The Royal Academy of Arts, in collaboration with the Benaki Museum in
Athens, has mounted a major exhibition that explores the remarkable
achievements of the Byzantine Empire. Flowering under the shelter of this
Empire - a centre for intercontinental communications and trade, religious,
political and cultural activity - several nations made their unique
contributions.



The exhibition contains 323 objects brought together from collections across
the world. In a section called 'The Neighbours of Byzantium' samples from
the creative cultures of the Armenians, Copts, Georgians, and Syrians are
exhibited. In spite of the religious divide between Armenia and Byzantium as
a result of the Armenian rejection of the Council of Chalcedon, Armenians
served the Empire as loyal subjects in the military and diplomatic spheres.
The entire Macedonian dynasty was the creation of Basil I, of Armenian
descent, who rose to be emperor of Byzantium from 867-886. Manuscripts
illuminated by the Armenian artists Sargis Pitsak, Step'annos Vahkats'i,
T'oros Roslin and others captivate the onlooker not only by their sublime
colours but more importantly the depth of inner spirituality and honesty.
In 989 the Armenian architect Trdat was invited to rebuild the
earthquake-damaged dome of Hagia Sophia. The splendid khachkar (stone cross)
placed next to a case containing Armenian manuscripts, reveals the
intricate, lace like workmanship of the sculpture, repeating on stone the
delicate art of the khorans (headpieces) of illuminated Gospels. The ivory
covers of the Queen Melisende Psalter is a remarkable, delicate work that
includes iconography reflecting the events from the life of Christ typical
to the cycle of miniatures found in Armenian Gospels. This is an opportunity
following the 2001 splendid exhibition of the Treasures from the Ark to see
a limited number of specimens of Armenian art in an international context.

Photograph: Front cover of the exhibition catalogue published by Royal
Academy of Arts (price: £55).
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