Hye Sharzhoom Armenian Action
Marissa Isquierdo
Staff Writer
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 University of Minnesota in Duluth, where he has taught for the last twenty-five years.
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 Fresno State.
Taline Kasparian, a junior Health Science major also expressed her appreciation for Dr. Marchese’s presentation. “As an Armenian student at Fresno State, nothing makes me prouder than seeing a non-Armenian professor studying Armenian art and than teaching a diverse group of people about Armenian works of art.”
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 Istanbul. “All the collections of materials had never been studied, nothing had been written, and no catalog had been established,” commented Dr. Marchese, who became involved in this groundbreaking research when he was asked by one of his Armenian friends while lecturing in the Middle East if he would be interested in religious textiles. “I had studied religious art as an undergraduate, but my work had been predominantly in archaeology and history.” Dr. Marchese took up the suggestion. As the examination of material progressed, many objects from the outlying districts of Istanbul and those objects housed in the repository of the Patriarchate, it became obvious that such objects needed a permanent home for display. This was achieved in 2006 with the opening of the Armenian Patriarchal Museum in Kumkapi, where selected objects , many of historical and art historical importance, are now on display. The museum features the brilliant achievement and contribution Armenian artisans and lay people made to the Church and the community. “My work is an attempt to preserve a heritage of one of the most important people in Istanbul in the 16th through19th centuries.”
He did not do this work alone nor was it done without the permission of the Patriarchate of all of Turkey, Mesrob II Moutafian. “Without the blessing of the Patriarch, and his encouragement and permission to study the collection of sacred objects, none of this could have been done,” Dr. Marchese said.
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 Fresno State provided Dr. Marchese with “personal correspondences, a wealth of information, and his encouragement.” Other people important to Dr. Marchese’s work included Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Krikor Maksoudian of the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, who “provided insightful translations of inscriptions and personal correspondences,” and also Dr. Marlene Breu (Western Michigan University), who is a colleague of Dr. Marchese on the project, as well as a textile expert and who collaborated with Dr. Marchese on his book Splendor and Spectacle: The Armenian Orthodox Church Textile Collections of Istanbul, which will come out later this year.
“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.