he Treasury Museum houses an extensive collection of artifacts and gifts given to the Echmiadzin church. The collection is truly astounding, both for its rare and precious collection, and for the depth and breadth of the holdings.

The museum is open to invited guests only between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., or by special arrangement (see New Residence). Even if you can't get in, use these notes to further understand the artifacts and relics on display in the Cathedral and Old Residence museums.

The following is a short introduction and description of the art forms and objects in the museum.

Metal Art

A variety of metals such as iron, copper, bronze, gold, and silver were used in Armenia for metal art. In addition to smelting, engraving, and stamping, metal art included threading, meshing, granulation and burnishing.

Metal Art at the museum includes incense holders, chalices, cups, belts, Vargas's, crosses, staffs, crowns, rings, and nimbuses, cymbals, chandeliers, candelabra, and lamps.

Gold and silver smith work includes the Khotakeratz St. N'shan, commissioned in 1300 by Prince Ichi Proshian. The ornamentation of its blinds as well as the delicacy of its engravings are examples of master goldsmiths.

Others include a 1443 closet and the 17th century St. N'shan of Aragats.

Engraved metal work includes the 1656 paten (wafer box), and the Gospel covers and copper bowls prepared by the workers of Caesura and Tokat.

Smelted objects include a 12th century cross, as well as a number of chalices.

Woodcarving

Wood was widely used in the making of lecterns, church doors, frames and book bindings. In the early medieval period the palaces at Dvin and Ani featured engraved wooden panels. Armenian churches and monasteries used wooden doors decorated with fine artistic shapes (such as at the Arakelots monastery in Mush, Tatev, Sevan, and Theodosia) on which geometric and floral designs were carved along with thematic pictures.

The best examples of these in the Museum are the wooden Columnar Capitals from the Arakelots Church of Sevan.

Among the wooden crosses is a 13th century Cross. The cross has a fine mesh like engraving and is fastened to a metal handle on which there is an engraving of the crucifixion. The work is detailed with gold and precious gems.

2 Rug Weaving

The oldest woven rugs uncovered in Armenia were found at Artik and Karmir Blur (Urartian period). Armenian rug weaving used wool and natural dyes, such as alizarin (or madder) and Vortan Karmir or Vortan Red, which was made from a special type of worm only found in Armenia. Vortan Red was prized throughout Europe and the Middle East for it vivid hue and ability to last for centuries.

Traded through Europe and the Middle East, Armenian woven rugs developed into separate schools of design, and it is possible to distinguish between those made in Caesurae, Sebastia, New Julfa, Lvov, Vaspurakan, Goghten, Artsakh, Siunik, Kars and the Ararat Valley.

The most famous are the dragon rugs which, as the name suggests, were woven with intricate dragon designs. The oldest known dragon rug dates from the fifteenth century, which was probably the beginning of the golden era for Armenian rug weaving.

In addition to dragon rugs, Armenians developed other types of rugs including Gohar rugs, Eagle rugs, and Serpent rugs. 18th century Armenian rugs and travel rugs woven in Artsakh are featured in the museum collection. Beautiful plant motif rugs from Artsakh, Siunik, and Vaspurakan regions are also included.

Embroidery

Armenians developed a variety of regional embroidery patterns and styles at embroidery centers in Vaspurakan, Marash, Aintap, Ararat, Karin, Shirak-K'ghin, Siunik, Kilikia, Cappadocia, Tbilisi, Istanbul, Smyrna, Bursa, Crimea and Astrakhan.

Religious needlework falls into three groups, Manuscript and Book Covers; Curtains, Banners and Embroidered Cloth; and Ritual Vestments.

The most impressive examples use intricate needlework on deep red silk with contrasting colored silk, silver and gold thread, accented with pearls and precious stones.

Also impressive are embroidered scenes from scripture and religious characters, the Madonna, Christ, and the Evangelists. Particular masterpieces on display include the Mitres of Katoghikos Khachatur and Katoghikos Pilipos; mitre covers showing Gregory the Illuminator in Vestments; and armlets, which have a complex needlework pattern depicting scenes of The Annunciation and Baptism.

Also included in the collection is a chasuble made in China and embroidered buckles with precious and semiprecious stones; and ritual dragon slippers.

Imprint Art

Imprinting is one of the oldest forms of Armenian applied art. Patterns were carved on oak or pear wood and fabrics were imprinted with dyes applied to separate wooden casts. Wool, cotton, silk, and other fabrics were used, while dyes were made from animal, plant, and mineral sources.

Armenian imprinted cloth reached Russia and other European countries via caravan routes. Particularly prized were Armenian fabrics imprinted with the Vorotan Karmir. Van, Shorot, New Julfa, Istanbul, and Madras were among the most important centers of Armenian imprinting.

Samples of Armenian imprint art can also be found in the internal binding of manuscripts showing an early mastery of the art form.

The imprinted altar curtains preserved in the collection at the museum are of the late period, prepared in the 17th century in Tokat, Madras and Tbilisi. The curtains picture scenes of St. George slaying the Dragon, the Founding of Echmiadzin, or multiple themes such as the Glory of Christ, the Annunciation, the Crucifixion, the Ascension, Adam and Eve and the Sacrifice of Abraham.

3 Miniatures

The miniature is one of the most beautiful forms of Armenian Christian art. The first samples of this art from at the museum date back to the 5th century. The large number of miniature manuscripts preserved from the 9th to the end of the 12th century show an evolution of the form as well as various schools.

By the end of the 12th century, after the fall of the Bagratuni and Artsruni dynasties, new schools of miniature art begin to take shape. The most important of these are those at Kilikia and Vaspurakan. The Kilikia school lasted 200 years and developed at a number of centers near Byzantium. The Vaspurakan style developed in Greater Armenia and lasted into the 18th century.

The illuminated manuscripts of Echmiadzin are essentially of the later period, beginning in the 14th century, and incorporating regional and European influences. There are also manuscripts, such as the Kiutahia Bible (1641 AD) on which Byzantine influence can be seen.

The oldest illuminated manuscript at Echmiadzin is the N. 194 Bible, written in Adana (Kilikia) in 1293. It contains the pictures and name sheets of the four evangelists, a variation of the Kilikian school.

A strong Kilikian influence appears in the Isfahan Manuscripts written in the 17th century, and the name sheets from manuscript N. 16 (Sharaknots, dated 1654) with the peacocks and bird letters pictured in magnificent Kilikian blue. In comparison with the other schools, Kilikian miniature art is distinguished by a deft representation of human movement and the uniqueness of colors where gold, blue, red, and green predominate.

The collection also includes miniatures influenced by Gothic Art. These include two Bibles, Ns. 54 and 462 (Constantinople, 1619), which combine Kilikian with late Gothic influence.

The 1374 Grigor Tatevatsi Bible includes miniatures added by Khachatur Kesaratsi. At the end of the manuscript is Tadevatsi's rhymed colophon (page 329 and on) and a poem by Hovhannes Vorotnetsi (pages 327a and 328b). In conjunction with these texts the manuscript also displays frontal portraits of Hovhannes Vorotnetsi and Grigor Tatevatsi, represented as saints under the arches. The tradition of portraying contemporaries and historical figures in manuscripts evolved from the 11th century, beginning with the Kars Bible.

Paintings

Other than those in the cathedral and Old Residence, the museum collection of paintings includes amazing seascapes by Hovhannes Aivazovski (1817-1900), and representative work by a who's who of Armenian painting: Gevorg Bashindjaghian (1857-1925), Vartkes Sureniantz (1860-1921), S. Khachatrian, V. Makhokhian, H. Pushman, E. Shahineh, H. Alkhazian, Martiros Sarian, H. Kojoyan, S. Arekelian, J. Orakian. P. Topalian, Carzou, A. Galentz, G. Khandjian, Hakop Hakopian, among others.

Coins

Included in the collection are 2nd c. BC Thrace coins, Roman Republic dinars from the 2nd to 1st centuries BC depicting Victoria, Mars, Jupiter and the Roman Twins, with Latin inscriptions; Roman Imperial coins depicting portraits of Augustus Octavius, Nero, Dometrianus, Marius Trajanus, and Marcus Aurelius; 2nd c. AD Roman coins; Late Roman coins from the 4th- 5th centuries AD; Herodotos;

Parthian coins with portraits of Arshakid rulers Mithridat, Orontes, Sanatruk, Vartan and Vagharsh;

Sassanid coins minted in the 2nd-3rd centuries AD, Late Sassanid coins bearing pictures of Khosrov Anushirvan and Khosrov Parvis, widely used in Armenia and neighboring countries;

Byzantine coins from the 12th century in gold and copper (copper was reserved for internal trade);

Umayyad and Abbasid currencies minted in the 9th- 10th centuries in Iraq and Iran;

Abbasid coins minted in the cities of Dvin and Partav;

Seljuk and Mongol coins from the 12th-13th centuries AD, including those minted with the Christian cross, struck in 1180 AD during Hulagu's reign;

Armenian Kilikia coins, with almost all the kings of Kilikia represented;

Copper coins from the Safavid, Ahajarian, and Afsharian dynasties in Iran (with Persian inscriptions struck in Yerevan);

Silver and copper coins with Persian inscriptions struck in Tbilisi, Georgian coins (19th c) and coins from the Ottoman and Russian Empires, Western Europe and the Americas.

 

Treasury Museum


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 


 


 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 







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