The Armenian Studies Program web page is sponsored by a grant from
The Bertha and John Garabedian Charitable
Foundation, Fresno.
On Wednesday, February 11
at 7:30 PM, Prof. Barlow Der Mugrdechian, Coordinator of the Armenian Studies
Program welcomed Fresno State
distinguished alumnus, Dr. Ronald Marchese, who
gave a presentation titled “Armenian Constantinople: Church, Society, and
Culture” to
an audience which consisted of Fresno State students, professors,
family, and friends in the Alice Peters Auditorium at Fresno State.
Dr.
Marchese is Professor of Ancient History and Archaeology at the
At this presentation,
audience members learned that the Armenian community in Constantinople/Istanbul
made a significant
contribution to the practice and creation of religious art
throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. According to Dr. Marchese,
who
has been doing scholarly research on the collections at the Armenian Orthodox
Church in Istanbul for the past thirteen years, Armenians
developed their “own
unique style of sacred art,” the “Constantinople Style.”
“The ‘Constantinople Style’ can be found from
the monumental
to the miniature, in architecture to the intricate details of
textiles. What separates the ‘Constantinople Style’ from other forms
of
religious art is its opulence,” Dr. Marchese stated, while adding, “The
‘Constantinople Style’ reveals the Armenians commitment to
detail, as well as
their tenacity to maintain a social and cultural identity through the objects
they produced and donated to the Church.”
Using
a slide projector and
power point simultaneously, all in attendance were fully enthralled at the
sacred images. These images consisted
of the interior and exterior of churches
as well as religious objects such as mitres and crowns, collars and lappets, altar
curtains,
crosses, and textiles. Dr.
Marchese talked about how textiles are an integral part of the Armenian
material culture, both secular and
religious. Weaving, embroidery, and needle
lace were the domain of women and in the early part of the 19th century,
embroidery schools
were established to fill the growing needs of the church.
The embroidery of gold on altar curtains and crowns was amazing to see and
showed
the technical skill, diversity of themes, and artistry of these women.
One important point Dr.
Marchese stressed throughout his presentation
was that creating objects for the
church was an individual pious act that was intended to bring about a sense of
personal fulfillment
and demonstrate the artisan’s faith. However, the objects
that were produced also demonstrated the artistic abilities of the Armenians
who
held a high reputation even in Ottoman court circles.
The use of colors, precious
metals, silk, gemstones-diamonds, sapphires,and
pearls, as well as the detailed
craftsmanship of these objects indicate a level of Armenian artistry that was
unique in the city. One
truly remarkable sacred object was a crown produced in
the 1800s. This crown was made of gold wire thread and silk and contained a
religious
scene of Peter and Paul flanking the Mother of God and Christ child.
The imagery was embroidered and one is able to even see the pupils
of the eyes
on their faces. This is impressive because the faces, as Dr. Marchese revealed,
are “no bigger than a fingernail.”
Audience
members expressed
their enthusiasm for this presentation. “I have taken art history classes and
I’ve never seen anything like it. You
can see the faith of the Armenian people
and how devout they were. The detail in their work showed their faith,”
remarked Marilyn Hernandez,
a junior History major at
Taline Kasparian, a junior
Health Science major also expressed her appreciation for Dr. Marchese’s
presentation.
“As an Armenian student at
The entire presentation was
special because, until 1996, no scholarly
work had ever been done on the
religious art in the collections at the Armenian Orthodox Church in
He did not do this work
alone nor was it done without the permission of the Patriarchate
of all of
Another person who was
extremely important in the study was
Archbishop Aram Ateshian, Grand Sacristan
of the Armenian Patriarchate. “Archbishop Ateshian is a wonderful man – I care
for him immensely
and he was a driving force in the establishment of the
museum,” said Dr. Marchese. Dr. Dickran Kouymjian, the former director of the
Armenian
Studies Program at
“I have worked diligently
on this study to capture not only religious culture, but also sensitivity, and
good historical authorship
and I feel very honored to be allowed by the
congregations of the many Armenian churches to study these important objects,”
concluded
Dr. Marchese.