On November 23, at noon, the Mashtots Matenadaran Museum will host the opening ceremony of the exhibition entitled “Constantine the Great and Tiridates the Great: The Alliance between Rome and Armenia through History and Images” on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Italy.
The exhibition is implemented in collaboration between the “Matenadaran” Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts and “Friends of Matenadaran” Benevolent Fund, supported by the Embassy of Italy in Armenia. The event was also sponsored by DoubleTree by Hilton Yerevan City Centre.
The exhibition marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Italy. It presents the story of the meeting of the first Christian emperor, Constantine the Great and the first Armenian Christian king, Tiridates the Great, and the tradition related to the alliance of love and concord concluded between the two states. This tradition, having passed through the centuries, has been enriched with various narratives, illustrated and finally sanctified.
The exhibition presents the 13th-18th-centuries manuscripts, printed books, as well as the massive reproductions of rare art pieces kept at the churches of New Julfa (The Islamic Republic of Iran) and depicting this historical meeting.
Among the exponents of the show the well-known 16th-century miscellany copied in Bałesh stands out which has the first known miniature representation of this topic.
The academic supervisors of the exhibition are Nazenie Garibian and Vahe Torosyan; the exhibition curator is Gayane Babayan.
A seminar on the same topic will follow the opening ceremony starting at 14:00 (see program).
The exhibition will be open from November 24 to March 31, 2023.