Lucy Der Manuelian: A pioneer in the study of Armenian architecture

by Pamela Barsam Brown

Published: Wednesday January 18, 2012

Prof. Der Manuelian in 2007.

Boston - Professor Lucy Der Manuelian states it perfectly; "My mission was to present to as wide an audience as possible - academia, museums, the general public - the distinctive achievements of Armenian art and architecture. I'm very happy if my work opened other people's eyes to a different part of the world."

The now-retired University of Tufts art historian broke ground establishing public concern for the preservation and restoration of thousand year-old cliff side monasteries. She chronicled her research in ‘Lost Treasures of Christianity: The Ancient Monuments of Armenia,' televised in the mid -1990's on many Public Broadcasting stations.

As reported at the time: "The program offers a spellbinding look at Armenian's medieval castles, churches, and monasteries, stone carved images, and brilliantly illuminated manuscripts." Aerial views of the monasteries carved into cliffs and perched on mountaintops were filmed by Der Manuelian, using her savvy negotiating skills to bargain the use of a Soviet helicopter.

Der Manuelian's early life was defined by the Armenian genocide. Her father's parents and sisters were all brutally murdered. Despite this inheritance of loss, her godfather, Arshag Fetvadjian, an authority on Armenian architecture had, at the turn of century, documented the ruins of Ani in thousands of sketches, watercolors, and paintings which were widely exhibited throughout Europe.

It was Fetvadjian who nurtured young Lucy's curiosity which eventually led to her life's work. She reflects; "When I was little I knew he had done something special but it was quite unexpected when my intellectual interest coincided with this emotional memory. If I had deliberately started out to fulfill my godfather's mission, I couldn't have done it in a better way."
Professor Der Manuelian's historic quest began during her graduate years. "I was researching my dissertation when I read of the possible connection between Armenian art and architecture and the famous cathedrals of Europe. Some scholars examined those medieval cathedrals, Notre Dame for example, and realized that the building techniques used by European architects for those towering churches were similar to the ones used centuries earlier by Armenian architects building their own churches."

She became the first Western scholar to research the hundreds of medieval churches and architectural sculptures in Armenia while based at the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute. Lucy's dissertation advisor, Harvard Professor Oleg Grabar, noted her fundamental courage. "Despite encountering many obstacles and challenges in the former Soviet Union, she succeeded in photographing, studying, and writing about hundreds of medieval monasteries while undaunted by unheated apartments, threats by the KGB, and scary helicopter rides."

In more firsts of many throughout her rich and productive career, Der Manuelian was awarded the first PhD in Armenian Art ever granted in the United States. Her Armenian spirit of adventure persisted and in 1988 she traveled by jeep far and wide through Soviet Armenia with 200 pounds of rented Hollywood filming equipment to accomplish her vision and create her documentary which she literally smuggled out of the country.

Later in 1989, Der Manuelian was the first appointee to the Dadian/Oztemel Professorship, the first-ever endowed Chair at a University devoted to Armenian Art and Architectural History. Der Manuelian explained at the time; "Tufts' new chair is important for the field of art history because it acknowledges the significance of Armenian art and is an important step for the support of research and training the next generation of scholars."

In 1990, the McGill Reporter quoted Der Manuelian: "From the time Armenia adopted Christianity in the fourth century it protected the West from invasion, fending off attacks by Perisans, Arabs, Seljuks, Mongols, and Turks. After each period of war and struggle, the nobles returned to church building and commissioning manuscript copying in the monasteries - these were sacred duties."

From the fourth to the fourteenth century, thousands of churches were constructed and Ani was the heart, soul and vibrant commercial crossroad on China's silk routes. Der Manuelian describes Armenia's ancient city of Ani and its thousand and one churches with beautifully carved outer walls as "a cross between Camelot and Hong Kong."

Ani is now the political epicenter and hopes have revived for preservation of what remains of Armenia's rich and ancient culture.

Der Manuelian clearly enunciates the intended purpose of H.Res. 306, a resolution passed by the House of Representatives calling on Turkey to return confiscated churches: "It is often said that the soul of a people is revealed more fully in its architecture than in any other way. If so, there can be no more eloquent spokesman for the Armenians than the handsome medieval churches that have stood for centuries perched at the crests of mountains, nestled or silhouetted against massive cliffs. They tell a haunting tale of a people with a religion and an identity to preserve - at all costs."

The Tuftonian, in 2000, reported on Der Manuelian's work documenting the medieval Church of the Holy Cross on the island of Aght'amar, Turkey built in 915 by King Gagik I. The building's exterior is almost completely covered "with richly ornamented relief sculpture from the Old and New Testaments: Adam and Eve, Jonah and the Whale, David and Goliath, the Nativity, and important Armenian saints. Inside the church is embellished with wall paintings that illustrate more than 34 biblical events in the dome, a series of paintings depicting unusual scenes from Genesis." Der Manuelian says "this is the oldest surviving Christian church with such a wealth of decoration. There is nothing like it anywhere else in the world."

As her career was concluding, Der Manuelian literally broke new ground using a ground-penetrating radar system developed by Geophysical Survey Systems to Armenian and conducted a geophysical survey of twelve early Christian and medieval sites and two Urartian fortresses to detect architectural remains beneath the ground's surface. Her pioneer work "uncovered hidden treasures, bringing to light obscured landmarks and neglected monuments."

"Armenia was a very great civilization, and the churches the Armenian nobility built are the most important documents of Armenia achievement and impact, especially with the historical inscriptions cared on their walls. Their architecture is a record in stone. It is my hope that others will also see in it the heart of a great Christian kingdom and one deserving of dedicated preservation."

Dr. Der Manuelian is the author of three volumes on Armenian architecture, as well as of numerous other publications. She has written and narrated three television documentaries on Armenian art, has appeared on radio and television news programs, including the McNeil-Lehrer News Hour and has given over a thousand public talks on the subject of Armenian Art and Architecture.

In 1994, she received the "Woman of Achievement" award at the First International Conference of the Armenian International Women's Association in London. She is listed in several Who's Who catalogues, including the Who's Who of Women and the Who's Who of American Women.