Nowe znalezisko z Jass jako źródło do analizy obrazu "Chrzest Armenii" pędzla Teodora Axentowicza

Abstract

New Discovery in Iaşi as a Source for Analysis of the "Picture Baptism" of Armenia by Teodor Axentowicz The author compares the oil painting showing the baptism of Thyristates III, King of Armenia, recently found in the Armenian-Apostolic church in Iaşi and attributed (due to the inscription on the back of the canvas) to Teodor Axentowicz, to the work of the same painter on the same subject that is currently displayed in the Roman Catholic church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Gdańsk. He claims that the painting from Iaşi is probably a copy of Axentowicz’s original work from around 1901 and it fully shows his original composition that was intended for the Armenian Catholic altar in the Roman Catholic church in Suceava. By contrast, the painting from Gdańsk only depicts the central part of the original. The reasons for this reduction remain unknown. Perhaps this was done by the buyer to adapt the image to the altar on which it was exhibited, or by the author himself to enhance the artistic value of the new version. The article also talks about the identification of another painting that captured the baptism of the Armenian king. The work was created in Lwów in 1839 by another Polish painter, Feliks Kasper Orlikowski, and it was intended for an unspecified Armenian church in Suceava. It may be that it was meant for the Armenian monastery Hagigadar located in the suburbs of the city.

Keywords

• Teodor Axentowicz
• Feliks Kasper Orlikowski
• Suceava
• Iaşi
• Romanian Armenians