THE CILICIAN STYLE

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

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

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.

ENTERING THE 13^th CENTURY WITH TOROS ROSLIN

Each page of the manuscripts was decorated and illustrated with birds, floral pattern, delicate circular and rectangular patterns and constructions, green branches, trees, flowers, roses, plants, vines, all kinds of lines, from the straight to the curved and from the circular to the rectangular. The margins of the page began to look like a rich fabric with multi-colors and ornamental presentations. Those ornamentations incorporated a wide and a rich variety of motifs and creative forms of decoration, floral circular illustrations with gentle curves, branches of trees painted carefully with delicate precision and attention to details. The dark and somber colors of the old and aging style were replaced by vibrant, sunny and brighter colors. Even the thickness of paint applied to the parchments , papers, pages, covers and media got thicker, deeper, heavier and richer. The artists began to paint “generously” not worrying about how much paint and colors should they use, apply or spend in their creative work. The Cilician style was rich in color and multi-varied in motifs and figures. Its ornamental design was richer and more varied than the Byzantine style. It had an elegant flair to it, an austere simplicity with complex compositions without becoming heavily over-ornamental as it was the case with the Byzantine art which incorporated a dense profusion of Islamic decoration, illustrations, figurines and ornamental geometrical and curved constructional patterns. In addition, the Cilician style brought to light some very new and innovative features such imaginary creatures , human figures and animal heads replacing the Byzantine leaves in floral scrolls. This artistic innovation and novelty are evident in the paintings of the leader and pioneer Toros Roslin (More on him, later)

At the beginning, Armenians used Byzantine art motifs, figures, drawings, illustrations and Byzantine painting techniques as source for their new style and as a model for their manuscripts, however, they added traits, figures, features and illustrations of their own creativity and innovation. For instance, by the mid of the 11^th century, canon tables and canon pages were framed and illustrated by drawings of trees and branches, griffins and fantastic animals with human heads around the canon tables; those are additions and a purely Armenian novelty which did not exist in Byzantine art. By the end of the 12^th century the Armenian manuscripts have acquired their own ethnic/national identity and artistic characteristics and consequently became free of foreign influences, thus they were no longer dependent on Byzantine style models to paint and illustrate their illuminated manuscripts and miniatures.

Thousands of Cilician manuscripts were produced and re-copied during medieval Armenia. A very few number of illuminated manuscripts survived. Fortunately, some of the best works of the ancient masters are well-preserved and well-kept in the MATENADARAN which is the official Armenian Collection-Archives of Manuscripts in the capital Erevan (Yerevan), Armenia.

Armenian artists and particularly Celician artists worked with several media, mixed media and elements such as: stone, wood, metal, lace, textiles, fabrics, linens, clothes, books, printing, books bindings, parchments, figures embossing, papers, jewelry, icons, relics, figurines, glasses, pottery, ceramics, titles, silver, gold, bronze, iron, numerous metals, tafta, terra cotta, manuscripts, illustrations, miniatures, portraitures, painting, mosaic, etc. But,

the predominant art form was painting which was considered more than art; a necessity and a duty for the decoration of Armenian churches and cathedrals. Painting art was blessed by the Armenian church and honored by the natives. Decorating a church was considered a sacred art and illustrating/painting a holly manuscript was considered as a sacred duty. Religion dominated all aspects and facets of Armenian life.

Even copying a manuscript was considered as praise worthy as building a church. Upon fleeing their monasteries during foreign invasions by hostile armies and greedy monarchs. Armenian monks would carry with them the most valuable possessions; possessions they could carry by hand or be placed on the back of their donkeys or chariots if they were available. The most precious possession was the illuminated manuscripts.

ENTERING THE 14^th CENTURY AND THE END OF A GOLDEN ERA

By the 14^th century, a major artistic event occurred, a sort of a U-Turn; the return of Armenian painting to its roots and to the dawn of its origin. Looking upon the paintings of the pioneer and leader Sarkis Pidzak , we observe a complete divergence and an opposite/contradictory style, far away and so different from the Cilician style of the 12^th and 13^th centuries. Pidzak’s paintings incorporated simple and simplistic geometrical patterns, free of complicated and richly designed figures and ornamental forms. His figures were not elegant and refined. They were heavy, short and sort of tough. A sense of repetitious conformity and a disciplined consistency order followed rigorously on all the pages of his illuminated manuscripts. Unfortunately, we do sense the absence of elegance and variety in forms, ornaments, patterns, designs, figurations and configurations. A style so different from the illuminated manuscripts paintings of previous centuries where each page was illustrated and painted differently. Each single page had its own design, colors, patterns, width and size of margins, particular rich and warm textiles colors quality to each single page, sometimes, each single section of the page. All this magnificent artistic rich display of varied visions, colors, creativity, beauty vanished in a way in the 14^th century.

THE END: THE DISASTROUS FALL AND THE END OF THE GREAT CILICIAN ART

The Mamlooks (also Mamlukes) are here. It means disastrous events of an apocalyptic proportions, decay and death of the arts and humanities! And this is what exactly happened to the Cilician art on the hand of the conquerors. A cataclysmic horror! Catastrophe and paroxysm ad infinitum

The Mamelukes conquered the kingdom of Cilicia, thus ending the Cilician art for good. But, the great and noble spirit of the Armenian continued to shine and produce in Greater Armenia until the 17^th century. Other disastrous events in forthcoming centuries will follow soon. And the Armenian art will suffer again! This shall constitute our future topics in many parts to come.