Christina Maranci, Arthur H. Dadian and Ara T. Oztemel Associate Professor of Armenian Art at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, has written a rich work presenting for the first time in English an exploration of three seventh-century Armenian churches. The first, Zuartʿnocʿ, can with justice be called iconic. Long in ruins, its reconstruction has been the focus of study by the principal art and architectural historians of Armenia. It is from its name and dedication that the title of this book has been taken – the vigilant powers, which has been translated by others as ‘guardian angels’. The church of Mren is also well-known to these same historians but its position on the frontier and the prohibition on archaeological investigation in its environs has precluded the type of in-depth study that Zuartʿnocʿ has enjoyed. The last, Ptłni, has been, quite frankly, long overlooked; it is both intriguing and ultimately satisfying that Maranci has included it in this tri-partite exploration of the construction of these monuments set within the context first, of the wars between Byzantium and Sasanian Persia, and then at the moment of the first Arab incursions into Armenia and the new social, cultural and political conditions that they caused.
As the audience for such a work includes many who have not studied the Armenian past, the author provides an introductory chapter which discusses the prior scholarship on the subject and details her own method of approach. ‘Questions of context and cross-cultural contact are given priority, and the notion of a connected (if not unified) South Caucasian visual tradition is accepted here.’ A valuable note concerning ‘The written sources and textual scholarship’ prepares the reader for the in-depth evidence presented while discussing each of the churches.
Chapter 1, ‘The frontier: Heraclius, Armenia, and the church of Mren’, uses all the resources presently available to interpret the construction and importance of this frontier church. As lengthy on-site exploration is at the moment impossible and the structure itself has continued to deteriorate since earlier publications about it, Maranci relies on the historical evidence, epigraphic tradition, architectural measurements and even digital imagery to weave the story of this church. After examining the historical traditions, the structure itself, its decorative and epigraphic remnants, Maranci concludes that ‘Mren encapsulates a network of interests and ideas: the imperial agenda of political and religious consolidation, local princely powers and opportunities for promotion, and shared concerns about the Holy Land and the arrival of the last days.’ She concludes, perhaps most importantly, that ‘its stabilization and preservation is of the utmost urgency’.
Chapter ii, ‘The world-stage: the church of Zuartoc’, is to some extent the most challenging. Not only is Zuartʿnocʿ the most renowned of the three churches but it is also the only one which lies in ruins. It is fortunate that there have been previous investigations that have yielded a floor plan but the ruins themselves have elicited several conflicting attempts at reconstruction. Maranci discusses these attempts as well as the present state of the church, its decorative remnants and, again, the historical and epigraphic documents. Her discussion, which places the church with other aisled tetraconchs of both earlier and later periods, is invaluable but it is her minute analyses of the various architectural elements of the structure that are especially useful in placing the church within the context of the times. Still, as the author notes, ‘Presenting an architectural scheme we still do not fully understand, bearing an unprecedented program of sculpture and epigraphy, and built by a celebrated patron to glorify Armenia's most hallowed saint [Gregory the Illuminator], Zuartʿnocʿ offers several lifetimes’ worth of fruitful research.’ Maranci concludes with an intriguing discussion ‘Circa 691: Zuartʿnocʿ and the Dome of the Rock’, concluding that they both ‘stand as remarkable and complementary expressions of their age and of the potential for monuments to respond, and give shape to, a dynamic moment in history’.
Chapter iii, ‘The princely seat: the church of Ptłni’, presents a relatively unknown church which barely appears in our extant sources and has consequently been little studied by modern scholars. It is purportedly a princely church, built by the Armenian noble house of the Amatunis; precisely which noble built it is still a subject of debate, as is the date of its construction. It is also closely associated in the sources with the Kamsarakan noble house. Maranci again employs the historical evidence and architectural motifs to examine the complicated issue of its date of construction, which she, contra others, firmly places in the seventh century. Although the discussion is highly speculative and involves an interpretation of the extant sources, her conclusion that ‘Ptłni may be part of the broader cultural practice of commemorating ancestors through both built shrines and genealogical writing’, is both plausible and persuasive.
Maranci's ‘Conclusions and further questions’ is a reiteration of her assessment of the construction of the three. ‘Mren, Zuartʿnocʿ and Ptłni speak to the dynamic of negotiation between imperial and local constituents, to the promotion of individual careers and princely families, and to shared cultural horizons.’ The strength of this book lies not only in the clear, lively and detailed exploration of the churches but also in the author's mostly successful attempt to ascribe them to this complicated time in Armenian history when the country's balancing act between East and West changed with the successes of the Arab invaders from the South.
A review of this length cannot do justice to the multi-layered arguments presented by Maranci. She has succeeded in her stated purpose of presenting the three churches as both products of and symbols of their age. Her knowledge of the detailed decorative programmes, of the architectural motifs, of the epigraphic remnants, of the extant historical documents and of their commentators complement her discussion of place and time for each. Yet for me at least, her thorough analyses of the scholars of the past on each and her careful footnoting of them make this a work that invites further exploration. In an age where footnotes have become mere bibliographic markers, it is heartening to see the type of footnote which explains, amplifies and argues.
If I have one objection it is a personal one which involves the transliteration system used. Maranci has followed the tradition of using the Huebschman/Meillet/Benveniste system which is understood by many but not all Armenists but works against not only an accurate pronunciation of the words but also the comprehension of those who have not studied it.
This is a relatively small complaint, however, and should not detract from the work's lively narrative and utility to researchers in many ancillary disciplines who wish to understand the history, art, architecture and culture of an ancient people located on the Eastern frontier at the moment of the earliest Arab invasions.
