ARMENIAN TRADITION BETWEEN THE SECULAR AND THE SACRED

Armenia is the first country to have officially adopted Christianity in 301 AD, preserving it to date in an indigenous form. The Armenian Church has indubitably been the strongest adhesive agent for the preservation of Armenian identity throughout the turbulent as well as tragic history of the Armenian nation.
The exhibition presents a selection of exceptional specimens of Armenian church art from the 12 –19th century: curtains, covers, ritual utensils and vestments, as well as a unique khachkar (cross-stone) dating from the 12 –13th century and a Gospel manuscript from the 15th century (altogether 26 exhibits). Being of the spiritual sphere, the objects also present a picture of decorative applied arts, i.e. metalwork and embroidery, from different historical and ethnographic regions of Armenia. The selected objects are especially valuable because they bear dated inscriptions in Armenian. 
The exhibition also presents reproductions of ten masterpieces of Armenian church architecture made from glass plates. These are exceptional specimens from the early period of the 130-year history of Armenian photography.