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Ptghni Church

 
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Although the only parts remaining of the church at Ptghni are the north wall, part of the south wall and one of the four impost arches of the dome, it is not difficult to recompose the ground plan and elevations: they indicate one of the most refined accomplishments of early Christian Armenian architecture. The reduction of the depth of the barrel vault in front of the presbytery has at last given the domed-hall a harmonious ground plan, while the introduction of bays , also barrel-vaulted, but devoid of access and, hence, immediate functionality , above the chambers flanking the apse gives the elevation an absolutely perfect balance between the central domed area and the two side wings. The building therefore develops along three axes, well defined by the presence of accesses in the middle of the south, north and also the west sides: the many courses all meet in the dome. The relief purposely given to the central area is accentuated by the different decorations on the capitals that shape the curves of the masonry abutments from which the arcades on the walls are generated and on the half-columns that support the dome. While the former are marked by simple listels over a concave moulding, the latter feature a refined variation of the Ionian order in which the volutes , with vine-leaves, bunches of grapes, pomegranates and other motifs , are continuously spaced out on the more protruding arm by a palmed cross, a type of capital found also in the quatrefoil church of St. Hovhannes at Sisavan, dating from the late 7th century.

Physically stressed by the lack of balance in the semi-column plan, the unification in the central square has a direct effect on the interior partition in that it helps to isolate the side areas defined by large arches against the precinct walls from the unity of the complex. Another of the novelties introduced by the Ptghni builders derives from light used as a unifying feature. Thanks to the presence of vast unbroken wall surfaces, one of the characteristics of the domed-hall compared to other typologies within the same Armenian context is the possibility of opening a large number of windows. This principle is applied with radical coherency at Ptghni, where it is adapted , or rather, shaped , directly on the architectural forms. Unfortunately, the loss of part of the building makes it impossible to fully assess the effects of this, but traces do remain on the north side that enable us to suppose that there was a similar distribution on the south and west sides. But there is not enough archeological evidence about the system of openings in the apse. This is because although two triangular-planned niches, which softened the walling, can be traced, there is nothing to prove that one or three windows opened in the wall; both possibilities are plausible in view of that particular type of outside wall definition.

Archeologically speaking, nothing can be said about the dome either, except perhaps that it must have rested on an octagonal drum created by the corner squinches, one of which survives. This leads one to believe that other light inlets opened in the drum, echoing the exuberant light effects deriving from the presence of windows in the upper parts of the heads of the two long sides and the west side that protrude compared to the overall alignment of the lower windows. What also enables one to evaluate the Ptghni church is the extreme fineness of its decoration work. All the windows are crowned with saddles bearing bands featuring a strictly calligraphic, linear execution suitable for the flat, two-dimensional representation of the motifs. Especially interesting is the saddle over the window to the right of the portal on the south side, because not only is it the only one in which those stylistic features are associated with a figurative representation but it is also one of the rare examples of early Christian sculpture in Armenia. At the apex of the curve, the saddle is decorated by a half-bust of Christ inside a medallion borne by two angels. Then there are three medallions at its sides, presumably, with the figures of apostles in them, in a sequence closed on the left by an inscription and on the right by a rooster. In the two side strips, there is a hunter on horseback shooting an arrow at his prey on the left and a hunter on foot piercing a lion with a spear on the right. The inscription reveals that the figure on the left is Manuel Amatouni and the one on the right, his father, Pargev; both died in the 4th century, fighting the Sassanids. Using typically Iranian schemata of majesty, the representation exalts the memory of two of the patron's ancestors (the patron was a member of the Amatouni family, which held the feudal dominion of the Kotayk region where the church is located) sanctified by martyrdom, in line with the provisions of the Armenian church regarding those who fell fighting enemies of the faith.

Unfortunately, the inscription does not help us date the building, which in fact has no appreciable evidence of its date. Not even the information about the participation of a Ptghni bishop in a synod held in 606 can be used as evidence for the time of construction. But all the various data put together does give us a fairly well articulated picture. The plastic quality of the relief, based on a stressed linearity, is reflected in other Armenian figurative works, such as the steles on the Odzun burial monument, the Christ in the Ptghni church and, above all, the fragmentary architrave (now in the Yerevan State Museum) that came from the patriarchal church of St. Grigor Lousavoritch (the Illuminator) at Dvin made towards the end of its construction, which began in 608. On the whole, given also the role model this church had, from the point of view of decoration, for the church of St. Hovhannes at Sisavan, we can plausibly date the church to around the first quarter of the 7th century.
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