Amongst the creations of Armenian artistic genius who give this nation an important place in art's universal history, the khatchkar (from khatch = cross, and kar = stone)is probably the most iconic example of this country. Khatchkars are rectangular stone plates, varying in height and usually slightly bigger than human size. The plates are always east-orientated; their west face is carved with a cross pattern; they are often placed on a podium and surmounted by a cornice. Luckily for historians, khatchkars are often carved with inscriptions, the content of which is a prayer for the salvation of the soul of a living or deceased person, inscriptions that also allow dating them while indicating their function. Several are funerary steles placed at the eastern end of a tomb where the feet of the deceased are located, ensuring that, on judgment day, he can rise facing east, where the salvation will come from. - Patrick Donabedian, Aix-Marseille University
In English, French, and Armenian
Hrair Hawk Khatcherian (2024)
Amongst the creations of Armenian artistic genius who give this nation an important place in art's universal history, the khatchkar (from khatch = cross, and kar = stone)is probably the most iconic example of this country. Khatchkars are rectangular stone plates, varying in height and usually slightly bigger than human size. The plates are always east-orientated; their west face is carved with a cross pattern; they are often placed on a podium and surmounted by a cornice. Luckily for historians, khatchkars are often carved with inscriptions, the content of which is a prayer for the salvation of the soul of a living or deceased person, inscriptions that also allow dating them while indicating their function. Several are funerary steles placed at the eastern end of a tomb where the feet of the deceased are located, ensuring that, on judgment day, he can rise facing east, where the salvation will come from. - Patrick Donabedian, Aix-Marseille University
In English, French, and Armenian
Hrair Hawk Khatcherian (2024)
