"The Evolution of the Visual Arts in the 17th Century in New Julfa" - Sarah LAPORTE-EFTEKHARIAN

Sara Laporte-Eftekharian's article is devoted to the process of formation and development of the visual arts of the Armenian community of New Julfa in the seventeenth century, examined in the context of the historical circumstances surrounding the resettlement of Armenians in the Safavid state and the subsequent cultural flourishing of this diaspora.

Introduction and Historical-Political Context

The author reconstructs the preconditions for the establishment of New Julfa, drawing on the events of the Irano-Ottoman wars of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Particular attention is paid to Shah Abbas I's campaign of 1603–1605, as a result of which:

• a number of territories, including Yerevan, were reconquered from the Ottoman Empire;
• a mass forced deportation of the Armenian population was carried out deep into Persia;
• Armenian merchants from the city of Julfa received privileged status and founded a new settlement — New Julfa — on the right bank of the Zayandeh River near Isfahan.

It is emphasized that the resettlement had not only military-strategic but also economic underpinnings: the Armenian merchant class was meant to contribute to the development of trade and the replenishment of the Safavid treasury.

Church Construction and Architectural Eclecticism

The author notes that until the late 1660s, the inhabitants of New Julfa enjoyed the patronage of the shahs, which allowed them to erect dozens of churches (according to V. Gougassian's calculations — 24 monuments). The architecture of these structures combined local building materials (brick instead of stone) with a modest exterior appearance and exceptionally rich interior decoration, represented by wall paintings.

Key Position: Factors in the Revival of Armenian Painting

The central thesis of the article is that the painting of New Julfa in the seventeenth century undergoes a genuine revival, conditioned by three interrelated factors:

• a conscious turn toward Cilician manuscripts of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries, which already contained elements of Western influence;
• the economic prosperity of the community and its constant contacts with Italian and Northern European diasporas, which shaped a taste for lavish decoration;
• the spread of Flemish printed engravings, above all Antwerp editions — Gerard de Jode's "Thesaurus" (1579) and the "Natalis Bible" (1593), which became the principal iconographic models.

Analysis of Works and Masters

The author analyzes in detail several monuments — the "Adoration of the Magi" from the Bethlehem Church and the Cathedral of the Holy Savior, miniatures from the "Menology of Isfahan," the "Annunciation" from the Church of the Holy Mother of God — demonstrating varying degrees of borrowing from Western models: from the direct transfer of composition to the complete assimilation of Western painting technique, as in the works of the artist Minas. The activity of Vardapet Merkuz and Astvatsatur (Ivan Saltanov), who continued his career at the Russian court, is also noted.

Separately examined is the introduction into Armenian iconography of a new substantive element — the anthropomorphic image of God the Father in the guise of a gray-haired elder, borrowed from the Western European tradition and disseminated through engravings and intermediary manuscripts (in particular, the Bible of Lazar Baberdtsi of 1619).

Conclusion

The article concludes that the painting of New Julfa in the seventeenth century represents a unique synthesis of Armenian iconographic tradition and Western European models, assimilated through the community's trade and cultural ties. This interaction was not limited to the formal borrowing of compositions but led to a profound transformation of both the style and content of the religious art of Armenia in this era.