The Met unveils preview of "Armenia!" opening September 22 (video)

 July 30, 2018 - 18:16 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Metropolitan Museum of Art has published a preview of "Armenia!", opening in New York City on September 22 and running through January 13, 2019.

This is the first major exhibition to explore the remarkable artistic and cultural achievements of the Armenian people in a global context over fourteen centuries—from the fourth century, when the Armenians converted to Christianity in their homeland at the base of Mount Ararat, to the seventeenth century, when Armenian control of global trade routes first brought books printed in Armenian into the region.

In a video shared on twitter, Helen C. Evans, Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator of Byzantine Art, says that the exhibition is focusing on Armenian art over time and offers some details about the event.

Through some 140 objects—including opulent gilded reliquaries, richly illuminated manuscripts, rare textiles, cross stones (khachkars), precious liturgical furnishings, church models, and printed books—the exhibition demonstrates how Armenians developed a unique Christian identity that linked their widespread communities over the years.

Representing the cultural heritage of Armenia, most of the works come from major Armenian collections: the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin; the Matenadaran (Ancient Manuscripts); the National History Museum in the Republic of Armenia; the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia in Lebanon; the Brotherhood of St. James in Jerusalem; and the Mekhitarist Congregation of San Lazzaro degli Armeni in Venice.

Almost all of these works are on view in the United States for the first time; some have not travelled abroad for centuries.