Maranci to Talk on ‘Excavation and Reconstruction of Zvartnots’

On April 14, Maranci will present "Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Excavation and Reconstruction of Zvartnots.”

WATERTOWN, Mass.—Zvartnots, perhaps more than any other medieval church, has become an icon of Armenian identity, the subject of countless representations in miniature, and the inspiration and namesake of the airport terminal of Yerevan. Yet what is really known about this church?

On April 14, the Armenian Library and Museum of America (ALMA) will feature a presentation by ALMA Research Fellow Dr. Christina Maranci, the director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan. Her talk, titled “Rock, Paper, Scissors: The Excavation and Reconstruction of Zvartnots,” will consider the initial excavations at the site, the participation of T’oros T’oramanian, and the scholarly controversies surrounding its original appearance.

Maranci is the Dadian Oztemel Chair of Armenian Art at Tufts University. She received her Ph.D. from Princeton University in the department of art and archaeology in 1998. Her 2001 book, Medieval Armenian Architecture: Constructions of Race and Nation, explores the role of Josef Strzygowski in the field of medieval Armenian architecture.

This free public program will take place at 7 p.m. in the museum’s Contemporary Art Gallery (3rd floor), on 65 Main St. in Watertown. A reception will follow.