Description

“Narekatsi with Komitas: Vision”, acrylic painting by Arsen Abrahamyan

Acrylic on paper painting.

The painting depicts two prominent figures of Armenian spiritual culture — Narekatsi and Komitas — despite the thousand-year difference between them. An angel presents Komitas Vardapet to Narekatsi.

An important note about the work: Komitas is depicted here with a halo. Although he is not canonized as a saint, the cause of his death (the basis of his mental suffering) was the Armenian Genocide. Years later, the Armenian Apostolic Church canonized all 1.5 million victims of the genocide, thus including Komitas in that list.

The setting, including the entire composition, is created in the style of Armenian miniatures and ecclesiastical painting.