Join the Zohrab Information Center for the next installation in our series celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the dedication of St. Vartan Cathedral. On Friday, November 2nd, at 5:30 PM, Dr. Christina Maranci, the Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Chair of Armenian art and architectural history at Tufts University, will present The Glorious House: Armenian Church Architecture and the Rite of Foundation. The talk will take place in the Guild Hall with a reception to follow.

Following after Fr. Garabed Kochakian’s introduction to the art and architecture of St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral, Dr. Maranci will delve into the “Rite of Foundation,” the liturgical service the Armenian Church performs to begin the construction of a new church. This liturgical “groundbreaking” also makes reference to architectural elements of the church building. Dr. Maranci, an expert in Armenian art and architecture, will explore the connections between the liturgical service and the architecture of the church. Join the Zohrab Information Center as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the dedication of the St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral, a striking example of Armenian architecture in the heart of Manhattan. With this presentation, Dr. Maranci will help us to appreciate the Cathedral even more, through the exploration of a little-studied liturgical service and its connections to Armenian church architecture.

Christina Maranci is the Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Chair of Armenian art and architectural history at Tufts University and is also Chair of the Department. She has held visiting positions in Armenian art at the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She is the author of three books and over sixty articles and essays on medieval Armenian art and architecture; including most recently The Art of Armenia: An Introduction with Oxford University Press. Her most recently published monograph on the seventh-century architecture of Armenia won the Sona Aronian Prize for best Armenian studies monograph from the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) and also the Karen Gould Prize for Art History from the Medieval Academy of America. Maranci has engaged with the cultural heritage of Armenians for over a decade, working on historically Armenian churches and monasteries in what is now Eastern Turkey. Her campaign for the Cathedral of Mren, near Ani in present-day Eastern Turkey, resulted in its inclusion on the World Monuments Watch List for 2015-17.

A reception will follow the talk, and copies of Dr. Maranci’s recent book The Art of Armenia: An Introduction will be available.

We look forward to seeing you at the Guild Hall of the Armenian Diocese at 630 Second Avenue in New York on Friday, November 2nd at 5:30 PM.

Note the day (Friday) and time (5:30), which are different from our usual event times.