Lecture Obrazy vítězí!

Dear and dear friends,

The November lecture from the series Medieval Jinax is already knocking on the door and we would like to invite you to it. The lecture Obrazy vítězí! will be presented by Veronika Dzhugan-Herman and will introduce us to the art and cult of 7th century Armenia.

We will meet again on Thursday, November 23 at 7 pm, at the Hans Belting Library. We will also be streaming the lecture live online on the Center for Early Medieval Studies YouTube channel.

Annotation:
Although the monumental painting of the early Middle Ages in the South Caucasus has survived only in fragments, it has been possible to recognize in specific cathedrals in Armenia, Georgia and Turkey a standing Christ holding a scroll with an inscription from the Gospel of John. Such a scene was originally identified as the Transmission of the Law. However, the author of the lecture rejects the claims of previous scholars and will present a new decipherment of the iconography of the images in their architectural context with the accompaniment of the surrounding inscriptions.
These frescoes and mosaics then serve as evidence of the mutual relations between the Armenian and Byzantine churches during the 7th century. At the same time, they demonstrate the excellence of artistic production in the South Caucasus and refute the previous mislabeling of the Caucasus as an artistic periphery.