Overview

This book is dedicated to an outstanding architectural monument of medieval Armenia - the church of the Holy Cross, built in the tenth century on the island of Alt'amar on Lake Van, and a UNESCO world heritage site. This jewel of architecture has been researched mainly from an art historical perspective. The current multi-author volume offers diverse studies aimed at placing the construction of the church in its proper historical, political, religious, and spiritual context. It explores the intellectual climate in the Kingdom of Vaspurakan during the reign of its founder, King Gagik Arcruni, the Kingdom's relations with Byzantium and the Abbasids, analyzes local historiography, biblical exegesis, hagiography, veneration of the True Cross, and royal ideology. Novel interpretations of architectural features and sculptural decorations close the volume. Le livre est consacre a l'un des plus importants monuments architecturaux de l'Armenie medievale, l'eglise de la Sainte-Croix construite au Xe siecle sur l'ile d'Alt'amar sur le lac de Van. Elle est inscrite sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO. Ce joyau de l'architecture armenienne a ete etudie principalement dans la perspective de l'histoire de l'art. Le present volume multi-auteurs propose une diversite d'approches qui placent la construction de cette eglise dans le contexte historique, politique, religieux et spirituel. Il etudie l'ambiance intellectuelle du Royaume du Vaspurakan durant le regne de son fondateur, le roi Gagik Arcruni, les relations du Royaume avec Byzance et les Abbassides, il analyse l'historiographie locale, l'exegese biblique, l'hagiographie, le culte de la Vraie Croix et l'ideologie royale. De nouvelles interpretations des particularites architecturales et des decors sculptes achevent le volume. Contributors are Krikor Beledian, Jean-Claude Cheynet, Patrick Donabedian, Bernard Flusin, Tim Greenwood, Gohar Grigoryan, Armen Kazaryan, Davit Kertmenjyan, Sergio La Porta, Jean-Pierre Mahe, Zaroui Pogossian, Robert Thomson (), Alison Vacca, Edda Vardanyan.

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9789004400382

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Reviews

The volume offers a selection of essays where an outstandingly important monument of Medieval Armenian art is investigated in its wider cultural and historical context from a definitely multidisciplinary viewpoint. (...) it enables its readers to get a wide-range introduction not only to the relevance of the church of the Holy Cross in Altamar for Armenian arts and culture, but also to the specific contribution of the hardly known Kingdom of Vaspurakan to world history. - Michele BACCI, Universitat Freiburg/Schweiz, in: Hortus Artium Medievalium 26 (2020)

'The volume offers a selection of essays where an outstandingly important monument of Medieval Armenian art is investigated in its wider cultural and historical context from a definitely multidisciplinary viewpoint. (...) it enables its readers to get a wide-range introduction not only to the relevance of the church of the Holy Cross in Altamar for Armenian arts and culture, but also to the specific contribution of the hardly known Kingdom of Vaspurakan to world history.' Michele BACCI, Universitat Freiburg/Schweiz, Hortus Artium Medievalium 26 (2020)

Author Information

Zaroui Pogossian, Ph.D. (2005), is a research associate at the Ruhr-Universitat-Bochum (Germany). She has published on numerous aspects of medieval Armenian culture and religion, such as the Armenian Church and the Crusades, monasticism, the role of women and pious foundations, apocalyptic literature and royal ideology. Edda Vardanyan, Ph.D (2001), is a research fellow at the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts of the Armenian Republic (Matenadaran of Erevan) and, since 2002, an associated scholar at the Centre d'histoire et civilisation de Byzance, Orient & Mediterranee UMR 8167 (Paris). Her research is dedicated to Armenian medieval art.

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