WebTalks
Trade, Religion and Art in Medieval Armenia
C. Griffith Mann
Dr. Mann on the influences that shaped Armenian artistic practices through the Middle Ages.
Trade, Religion and Art in Medieval Armenia
In our fifth and final video from a series featuring the curators of Armenia!, Dr. C. Griffith Mann examines the influences that shaped Armenian art in the Middle Ages—specifically, Armenians’ dominance on medieval trade routes and their identity as Christians through centuries of complicated geo-political changes. Dr. Mann concludes that while artistic practices in Armenia were undoubtedly informed by their relationships with the dominant empires of the time, they are in many ways uniquely Armenian and speak to a specific people and culture formed at the crossroads of the East and West.
On view at the The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the fall and winter of 2018, Armenia! was the Museum’s first large-scale exhibition dedicated to the artistic and cultural achievements of the Armenian people in the Middle Ages. In a series of videos for AGBU WebTalks, the curators of the show discussed the significance of this unique exhibition and the works represented in it.