MATERIAL: Silver
TYPE: Artifact
DIMENSIONS: 50.5 cm or 20.5 inches tall
COMPONENTS: Church altar ornament made of silver and gold plated.
NOTES: Krikor translated it differently (see translation notes)
ITEM ID: 310
Armenian Radiance
DATE
Year: 1800
Decade: 1800s
Century: 19th (1801-1900)
An Armenian radiance (a silver and gold plated ornament of the church altar). It dates to the 1800s. It has a glass covered space for the purpose of containing a saint’s relic.
Radiances constitute the most brilliant church ornamentation, symbolizing the spiritual power radiating from holy things. While the church this relic was dedicated to was destroyed in the 1915 genocide of Christians in the Ottoman Empire, it’s beauty still remains powerful and inspiring.
According to scholar Sebouh Aslanian, the inscription on this radiance reads, “ՆՈՒԷՐ ՈՐՄՆԱԴԻՐ ՅԱԿՈԲ ՍԻՐՈՒՆԵԱՆԷ Ի ՅԻՇԱՏԱԿ ԻՒՐ ԴՍՏԵՐ ԱՄԻՏԻ Ս. ՍԱՐԳԻՍ ԵԿԵՂԵՑՒՈՅ ՌՅԻԵ (1325+551=1876) A GIFT FROM THE MASON HAKOB SIRUNIAN TO THE CHURCH OF SAINT SARGIS OF AMIT [DIYARBAKIR/DIKRANAGERD] IN MEMORY OF HIS DAUGHTER 1325 OR 1876.”
Religious
Rare and beautiful objects related to spirituality.
