ART & STYLE MAGAZINE  

ART HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION

By Maximillien de Lafayette

THE CILICIAN STYLE

FROM ITS GLORIOUS DAYS, ITS ORIGIN, ITS RISE, ITS GLORY TO ITS FALL AND DEATH ON THE HAND OF THE MAMLUKS!

Photo: Cilician ruins. City walls and ramparts from the 10th century  to the 11th century.

THE ORIGIN, SOURCE AND DEVELOPMENT

The second style of the early Armenian manuscripts painting is the Cilician style.   A very beautiful, colorful, rich, vibrant, humanistic and detailed brighter and happier art.  Tens of thousands of illuminated manuscripts were produced in the times of medieval Armenia. Unfortunately many perished. But, fortunately a few but relatively significant number survived and currently   several illuminated manuscripts are well-preserved and well kept in Yerevan (Erevan), Armenia and at other international secular and religious Armenian centers around the around, to name a few: The Mekhitarist Library of Vienna in Austria, the Library of St. James of the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem in Israel, the Mekhitarist Library of San Lazzaro in Venice in Italy,  Armenia National Archives and  museums of colleges and universities in the United States of America, such as Harvard University and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. USA. The Cilician style was deeply influenced by western painting and Byzantine art, as well as by Armenian artists’ personal innovation which was stimulated by the training they received and art practice they developed in foreign schools teaching Western art. Later on, in the 19^th century, and the 20^th century,  contemporary and modern Armenian artists would follow the same path. The majority of modern Armenian artists who studied in Russia, Italy, Germany and France will go through the same process, learn foreign art techniques, use different media, mixed media and explore new artistic dimensions and variations. Foreign artistic influence was visibly noticeable and clear in the work of contemporary artists such as: Leon Tutundjian, Jansem, Carzou and Kochar as well as many other Armenian artists who lived, trained and worked in Europe. Some became world wide famous and rich. Others lived all their lives and died in total poverty and absolute misery.

THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CILICIAN STYLE: THE BYZANTINE, PERSIAN, RUSSIAN AND EUROPEAN INFLUENCES

Photo: Coin of the great Satras Orentes.

The Cilician style was originated and rapidly developed by Armenian artists who studied the techniques and the traditions of Western art. In the 9^th, 10^th and 11^th  centuries, Byzantine art influenced Armenian painters who later, combined it with their own innovations, creativity and personal experiences. This, gave birth and rise to the development of the Cilician style. The new Armenian art was baptized under the genre of Cicilian style named after the  legendary and magnificent Ancient Armenian kingdom CILICIA whose  social upper classes and nobility supported  and patronized artists, painters, illustrators, calligraphers, musicians, historians and several individuals who embraced any form of art or followed any school of the disciplines and endeavors of arts and humanities. Cilician new school of art brought a fresh breeze to the ancient  and aging Armenian ethnic art. It did help the old format of the manuscripts painting in  developing its techniques, brightening its colors and offering it new approaches and revitalized views on and at new visions and dimensions. Cilician art began to add and adopt a new format and a new look. It incorporated ornamental  motifs, intricate floral design,  figures of birds, sophisticated  geometrical patterns with curves and contours, bright stars, imaginary and surrealistic  creatures painted with refined details and  utmost precision. Human figures began to look more human, more animated and more realistic. In contrast with the former aging Armenian style and conventional ethnic art, artists of the new school began to stress and define meticulous details,  to paint and render human figures, faces, bodies, facial expressions, human forms and gestures in a more life-like manner. The background got richer, more evocative, more illustrated, more animated, bearing some themes and added details to the “background compositions” on numerous and varied  levels. The artists of the new style began to use gold leaf to enrich  the background of their paintings.  The Cilician artists began to place a great importance on the background of the manuscripts which commenced to incorporate scenes representing humans, celestial elements and delightful landscapes with warm and welcoming colors. In contrast with the earlier Armenian art, the old symbolism approach to painting was transformed into and replaced by realism.