|
Home
|
About the website artwork
The website artwork is a collage, an art form that takes disparate images from multiple sources and assembles them to create a new image. This collage was created by hand, using images from the artist’s personal collection to create a unique design for Sts. Vartanantz Church. The design was inspired by the history of Vartanantz, so for a moment, let us go back in time . . .
. . . It is the year 451 AD and King Yazdegerd, of the Sassanid Persians, has ascended the throne. Armenia is divided between the Roman and Persian Empires. In an effort to ensure the allegiance of Yazdegerd’s Armenian subjects, he decides the most probable means is to convert them to Zoroastrianism, a pagan religion of fire worship (gragabashdt). He attempts to induce Armenian compliance to his mandate, by sending his Vizier, Mihr-Narses to employ all means of persuasion, gifts, threats, promises, etc. The Armenians refuse to be bribed. Consequently, Yazdegerd removes the Armenian Christian chiefs, and forces them to take part in the Eastern war against the Tatars. Armenia’s care is placed into the hands of Vasag Suni the Marzban (Protector of the Border) who was sympathetic to the Persian cause. The Armenian Catholicos Hovsep, initiates a great assembly within the Armenian nation to assert the acclamation that Armenia is a Christian nation and will remain so at any cost. Yazdegerd orders the immediate arrest of principal chiefs, Vasag Suni and Vartan Mamigonian the Sparabed (Commander in Chief). (Vartan Mamigonian is a descendent of a noble Armenian family. On his mother’s side he is the grandson of Sahag Catholicos, chief translator of the Bible from the Greek into Armenian.) Yazdegerd threatens their immediate annihilation unless they renounce their Christianity. Vartan and Vasag yield and are sent back to Armenia to carry out the forced conversion to paganism. Repenting his weakness and reconciling with the Patriarch, Vartan reclaims his Christian faith and calls the Armenian people to arms. With a force of 60,000 against a Persian military force of 220,000, the battle is almost a certain defeat before it even begins. Vartan prefers death to servitude. In a last desperate attempt, the Armenians appeal to their Christian brethren in Rome for assistance. But the Emperor, fearing an attack on Rome’s Eastern Empire by Atilla the Hun, cannot afford to spare any troops. Armenia is on her own. The day before the battle, the Armenian army under the leadership of Vartan, receives Holy Communion and spends the night in devotion and prayer. The next day, on the plain of Avarayr in the Province of Vaspurakan, Armenia, a bloody battle ensues. The Persians emerge victorious and Vartan and brother Hmayag are counted amongst the martyrs. Hovsep Catholicos and the other bishops are arrested, taken to Persia and martyred. The Armenian revolt continues through guerilla warfare under the leadership of Hmayag’s son, Vahan Mamigonian, the appointed Sparabed by King Sahag the Bagradit, during a brief Armenian independence and constitutes a drain on Persia. It was not until roughly 483 AD that an agreement is reached between Vahan and King Balas. Resultant of that agreement, the Armenians are granted full religious freedom and home rule for the country. In Armenia, fire altars are destroyed and churches are reclaimed and purified. The hierarchy is restored to its former power. . . the Armenians have achieved a moral victory.
Central to the website artwork are the Armenian clergy looking to Christ on His throne for affirmation of the defense of Christianity. They stand in the shadow of Holy Etchmiadzin, the Mother Church, the divine vision of St. Gregory whose very foundation was symbolically built upon the remnants of a Pagan fire altar. Behind the clergy are the Armenian people fulfilling the call to arms by their great General Vartan Mamigonian, here depicted on horseback, sword held high. Finally, as a separate entity to the right is Sts. Vartanantz Church, namesake of the martyrs of Vartanantz, which represents 1700 years of survival and hope for the future.
May the knowledge and understanding of this exhausting Armenian struggle for religious freedom inspire a deep reverence, humility and a desire to continue the precious legacy we find placed in our hands to protect - that of the Christian Armenian Church, that of Sts. Vartanantz Church. We hope you enjoy this artwork. It tells our story, the Armenian Christian story. We are here, 1700 years later. We have survived despite the odds. Sts. Vartanantz Church needs your financial and personal involvement to secure its future.
Medina Topalian
|