The ideology
and iconography of the cross in early Christian Armenia.
To
understand the origins of the composition of the khachkar it
is necessary to pay special attention to
ideological-religious and cultural processes that were
taking place in the 4th-7th centuries
in Armenia. As a result of these processes, together with a
number of complexes of national identity like Armenian
alphabet, book, etc., the principles of the organization of
sacred space, the national worship of the cross, and the
iconography were shaped. The development of these complexes
and the specific historic-cultural environment led to the
emergence of khachkars. According to the evidence presented
in the “History” by Agatangeghos, which is a presentation of
the proclamation of Christianity as a state religion in
Armenia in the beginning of the 4th century, in process of
spreading of Christianity an important role had played the
temple and an open-air stele. The Vision of Grigor the
Enlightener, which is a part of mentioned “History”, states,
that the first cross-bearing steles and temple appeared in
the center of the capital of Armenia as a result of a
miracle. If the temple was the symbol of the surrounding
holy territory, to a certain extent it was in opposition to
secular, non-holy territory. Thus the cross-bearing stele
aimed to give holiness to the open air, to secular
territory, easing the conflict between the holy and
non-holy, and eventually between the believer and the
non-believer. It was thought in medieval Armenia that the
Armenian letters were depicted to Mesrop Mashtots (father of
the Armenian alphabet) by a miracle. Thus, the stele, the
temple, and the letters, were given to Armenians through a
miracle and represent the three main, equal directions and
means in the process of spreading and strengthening of the
new belief. The first stele in the vision of Grigor the
Enlightener comes as a result of the victory over pagan
forces, the remaining three as the result of the martyring
of the virgins. Hence, in this vision, which has a keynote
nature for Armenian Christianity and the Armenian church,
demonstrates the victorious (first stele) and savior (the
steles of the virgins) symbolization of the cross, which
fully corresponds to the symbolism of the cross created in
the 4th century.
There are no details on the form or appearance of the cross
in early Armenian written sources. Its form and general
appearance and its symbolic meaning, are issues, which can
be addressed by a comparative analysis of the general
symbolism of the cross in the first centuries of
Christianity, by a restoration of the graphics and
corresponding materials. In the New Testament we see the
first attempts to interpret the crucifixion as salvation and
victory, which constitutes the general wisdom of
Christology.
But
these are indefinite references, which do not rule out the
clear practice of the holy cross and do not describe its
outer appearance. In the antique world the death penalty
through crucifixion was considered to be the most
humiliating form of capital punishment. This perception of
the cross as a tool for a shameful death was shared by the
early Christians as well, and it took some time for this to
be overcome. We should consider as accepted the opinion that
until Constantine The Great the cross had been considered a
tool for murder and disrespect, and was used rarely as a
symbol of Christianity and as complementary for the other
symbols. It is characteristic that in 4th-5th
centuries, among the most important instructions by the
first creators of the cross philosophy was that there was no
need anymore to be ashamed of accepting and worshiping the
cross. Due to wide-ranging preaching, the cross quickly was
transformed into an exclusive sign of Christian identity, by
which started, proceeded and finished every thought, ritual
and beginning. In the popularization of cross worship and
the emergence of the khachkar, an important role was also
played by the particular kind of cross worshiping of the
Armenian Church. Another basis for the emergence of the
khachkar and for the development of popular reverence toward
it was the worshiping of a free standing outdoor rock, a
mountain and eventually simply a stone.
First crosses and
cross compositions.
In
early Christian art, the origins of the depiction of the
cross is thought to be the vision of Constantine the Great,
which provided the basis for making official the
monogrammatic cross (chi-ro), and following it, the
equal-winged or, so-called Greek cross. The decorated and
tree of life philosophy and iconography of a cross is
connected with Constantine the Great’s mother Helena, who
found the wood of the cross, from which originates the
proportionately stringed (with longer lower wing) or Latin
cross
The oldest documented crosses in Christian Armenia were the
monogrammatic crosses. These are crosses encircled in a
wreath, surrounded by doves that represented the souls of
the believers, and situated in a garden-paradise
environment. But in early medieval Armenian art, encircled
crosses with radial enlarged wings are more characteristic.
These became widespread both as a type of free-standing
cross-bearing stele, and as an architectural detail on
different sacred structures. Starting already from the
earliest examples, the solar-illuminated design was
paralleled with an essentially vegetative one, which became
one of the bases for the further development and eventual
emergence of the cross composition.
The cross with pulled proportions (the two elements of the
cross – the horizontal and vertical pillars, do not
intersect in the middle, but rather the horizontal element
transects the vertical element at a point above the center),
which spread a bit later than the equal-winged cross
(beginning from the mid-fifth century) had better prospects
of development in Armenia. These crosses were depicted on
hills, on stairs, placed on a ball, decorated with palmettes
and lilies. The wings and the crossing of the cross were
accented with jewels or buttons.
The
interpretation of these details allows us to come to the
conclusion that the cross with pulled proportions
incorporated both the victorious and savior philosophy, and
was presented in the center of the universe as a tree of
life on the paradise mountain, referencing the crucifixion
and showing the future.
Many examples of standing cross-bearing steles from the 4th
– 7th century have survived to the present. These
steles can be divided into 6 groups:
- Stele with carvings;
- Memorial columns;
- Memorial structures;
- Free-standing crosses;
- Stone crosses erected on altars;
- Crosses on a pole.
Steles, as a rule, were concluding with a stone cross with
three-dimensional or free wings, attached on pilasters, or
on special cross-holders that were positioned on pilasters.
Sometimes their bases, columns or pilasters bear cross
carvings or more sophisticated cross compositions. The
three-dimensional cross, due to a prolonged lower vertical
wing, has a more extensive look, which aimed to present the
Exalted cross of Golgotha. The composition of the free
crosses included the palmette ornament, which started from
the bottom of the cross and continued until the tips of the
horizontal wings, with round holes or buttons on the wings
and a pair of buttons on the ends of the wings.
The
holes or buttons originated from jewellery, where the small
holes were intended to bear precious stones or to place holy
relics under a glass, and the buttons were made from
precious stones. The three-dimensional crosses that
originate from northern Armenia are decorated with delicate
carvings of Christ and saints, lily flowers, grain-like
ornaments and rosette bouquets.
The crosses on the pole can be divided into two types:
movable and immovable. In the first case they have a large
base, short stick, sometimes even a pilaster under the
cross, and in some cases the cross-bearing circle is based
on two sticks. Probably precisely such crosses on a pole
were considered to be the crosses that were erected by
Gregory the Illuminator and King Trdat. A large part of
these crosses was made from wood, and some examples or some
of their parts from iron.
Together with three-dimensional crosses, the cross
compositions carved on church structures, steles and
memorials, were widespread. These compositions provide an
opportunity to restore the process of philosophical and
iconographical popularization of the cross in Armenia. Early
Christian propaganda in Armenia placed great importance as
much in the oral and written word, as in the image. The
latter, in the first place, was intended to target
uneducated peasants and aimed to play the same role for them
as the book played for educated people. Another goal of the
compositions was the presentation of God’s history and order
through different carving themes, images and symbols. But
obvious issues were emerging with the presentation of the
basic idea of Christianity – Christ’s salvation crucifixion.
It was difficult to present to the new believer a crucified
but still powerful god. To popularize the idea of salvation
through crucifixion, the Armenian Church chose to emphasize
not the image (Christ) but the sign (cross). Despite on this
the sign alone could not tell much about the idea. Detailed
analysis shows that to make the prospect of salvation
crucifixion understandable, Armenian priests used allegories
which were familiar to agricultural societies: just as the
grape becomes an “immortal” liquid after squeezing, Christ
poured his blood on the cross for the sins of the humanity;
just as the birds and animals enjoy themselves in the
vineyards, the true believers will enjoy heaven that will
come as a result of the crucifixion of Christ. Or, Christ’s
dogma itself is like a vineyard, and Christ is like a grape,
and with learning that dogma opens the road to heaven. Thus,
early cross compositions took on garden-grape iconography:
the cross is pictured as a new tree of life, which either
grows in a vineyard, or gives beginning to the vine, or
bears Christ, his teaching and the vine symbolizing the
followers. This heaven-garden-grape understanding of the
cross became the basis of the khachkar composition.
The
creation of the main patterns of composition and
architecture of the khachkar.
In
comparison to the early medieval steles that consisted of a
base, column, pilaster and three-dimensional cross, the
first khachkars, as a rule, were plain, rectangular, intact
stones. It is impossible to separate any one type among the
early medieval steles that could serve as a prototype for
the khachkar in its three-dimensional solution. The early
medieval cross compositions having either an encircled
equal-winged cross or the “pulled proportion” cross,
respectively were becoming almost circular or rectangular.
Due to the tree of life connotations of the cross, there was
more potential for spreading the latter, “pulled
proportions” form. The formation of the three-dimensional
khachkar begins with selection of natural, unworked piece of
rock, old stele, rounded or egg-shaped stone or construction
block, on whose surface the stone composition can be easily
placed. It ends with an arced or rectangular block. In the
sense of composition, the first khachkars represent not just
cross bearing, but cross composition bearing steles. Thus,
the emergence of the khachkar can be described not simply as
a carving of the sign of the cross on the western side of a
free-standing stele, but the process of choosing the
appropriate free-standing steles for the variety of types of
cross-compositions. Thus, in the process of the formation of
the khachkar’s stele, the type of cross composition, rather
than the type of stele, is playing a key role.
To
understand the origins of the composition of the khachkar it
is necessary to pay special attention to
ideological-religious and cultural processes that were
taking place in the 4th-7th centuries
in Armenia. As a result of these processes, together with a
number of complexes of national identity like Armenian
alphabet, book, etc., the principles of the organization of
sacred space, the national worship of the cross, and the
iconography were shaped. The development of these complexes
and the specific historic-cultural environment led to the
emergence of khachkars. According to the evidence presented
in the “History” by Agatangeghos, which is a presentation of
the proclamation of Christianity as a state religion in
Armenia in the beginning of the 4th century, in process of
spreading of Christianity an important role had played the
temple and an open-air stele. The Vision of Grigor the
Enlightener, which is a part of mentioned “History”, states,
that the first cross-bearing steles and temple appeared in
the center of the capital of Armenia as a result of a
miracle. If the temple was the symbol of the surrounding
holy territory, to a certain extent it was in opposition to
secular, non-holy territory. Thus the cross-bearing stele
aimed to give holiness to the open air, to secular
territory, easing the conflict between the holy and
non-holy, and eventually between the believer and the
non-believer. It was thought in medieval Armenia that the
Armenian letters were depicted to Mesrop Mashtots (father of
the Armenian alphabet) by a miracle. Thus, the stele, the
temple, and the letters, were given to Armenians through a
miracle and represent the three main, equal directions and
means in the process of spreading and strengthening of the
new belief. The first stele in the vision of Grigor the
Enlightener comes as a result of the victory over pagan
forces, the remaining three as the result of the martyring
of the virgins. Hence, in this vision, which has a keynote
nature for Armenian Christianity and the Armenian church,
demonstrates the victorious (first stele) and savior (the
steles of the virgins) symbolization of the cross, which
fully corresponds to the symbolism of the cross created in
the 4th century. 
But
these are indefinite references, which do not rule out the
clear practice of the holy cross and do not describe its
outer appearance. In the antique world the death penalty
through crucifixion was considered to be the most
humiliating form of capital punishment. This perception of
the cross as a tool for a shameful death was shared by the
early Christians as well, and it took some time for this to
be overcome. We should consider as accepted the opinion that
until Constantine The Great the cross had been considered a
tool for murder and disrespect, and was used rarely as a
symbol of Christianity and as complementary for the other
symbols. It is characteristic that in 4th-5th
centuries, among the most important instructions by the
first creators of the cross philosophy was that there was no
need anymore to be ashamed of accepting and worshiping the
cross. Due to wide-ranging preaching, the cross quickly was
transformed into an exclusive sign of Christian identity, by
which started, proceeded and finished every thought, ritual
and beginning. In the popularization of cross worship and
the emergence of the khachkar, an important role was also
played by the particular kind of cross worshiping of the
Armenian Church. Another basis for the emergence of the
khachkar and for the development of popular reverence toward
it was the worshiping of a free standing outdoor rock, a
mountain and eventually simply a stone.
In
early Christian art, the origins of the depiction of the
cross is thought to be the vision of Constantine the Great,
which provided the basis for making official the
monogrammatic cross (chi-ro), and following it, the
equal-winged or, so-called Greek cross. The decorated and
tree of life philosophy and iconography of a cross is
connected with Constantine the Great’s mother Helena, who
found the wood of the cross, from which originates the
proportionately stringed (with longer lower wing) or Latin
cross 
The
interpretation of these details allows us to come to the
conclusion that the cross with pulled proportions
incorporated both the victorious and savior philosophy, and
was presented in the center of the universe as a tree of
life on the paradise mountain, referencing the crucifixion
and showing the future.
The
holes or buttons originated from jewellery, where the small
holes were intended to bear precious stones or to place holy
relics under a glass, and the buttons were made from
precious stones. The three-dimensional crosses that
originate from northern Armenia are decorated with delicate
carvings of Christ and saints, lily flowers, grain-like
ornaments and rosette bouquets.
In
comparison to the early medieval steles that consisted of a
base, column, pilaster and three-dimensional cross, the
first khachkars, as a rule, were plain, rectangular, intact
stones. It is impossible to separate any one type among the
early medieval steles that could serve as a prototype for
the khachkar in its three-dimensional solution. The early
medieval cross compositions having either an encircled
equal-winged cross or the “pulled proportion” cross,
respectively were becoming almost circular or rectangular.
Due to the tree of life connotations of the cross, there was
more potential for spreading the latter, “pulled
proportions” form. The formation of the three-dimensional
khachkar begins with selection of natural, unworked piece of
rock, old stele, rounded or egg-shaped stone or construction
block, on whose surface the stone composition can be easily
placed. It ends with an arced or rectangular block. In the
sense of composition, the first khachkars represent not just
cross bearing, but cross composition bearing steles. Thus,
the emergence of the khachkar can be described not simply as
a carving of the sign of the cross on the western side of a
free-standing stele, but the process of choosing the
appropriate free-standing steles for the variety of types of
cross-compositions. Thus, in the process of the formation of
the khachkar’s stele, the type of cross composition, rather
than the type of stele, is playing a key role.
