Armenian Art in Warsaw (18th and 19th Centuries)
Abstract
The article presents the Armenian art in Abstract Warsaw from 18th to 19th Century, in
the capital city established in 1596 by Sigismund III Waza, where was inhabited mainly
by merchants who conducted various sorts of economic activity between Gdansk to
Lviv. The earliest traces of Armenian presence in Warsaw and neighbouring towns can
be found in catholic churches. The first Armenian monuments we cans see in the
catholic churches from 17th and 18th Century. In the second part of article author
presents many elements of the polish national dress. Many such noble persons came to
Warsaw for the proceedings of the Sejm. When they purchased new clothes, they
required elements that would indicate their noble origins as well as their wealth. These
elements included silk sashes made usually by Armenian craftsmen. By the end of the
18th century, the demand for oriental cloth sank. This was caused not only by new
trends in fashion, but also by the downfall of the Polish state. Armenians closed their
workshops near Warsaw. However, regardless of the changing fashion, some Polish
noble houses remained faithful to the most substantial elements of the noble’s attire: the
headpiece, orders and the sash. In the 19th century Armenians in Warsaw got involved
in the Poles’ patriotic undertakings aimed at liberating the country from Russian rule.
Painters of Armenian descent were active in Warsaw, including Jan Klemens
Minasowicz and Rafał Hadziewicz.
Keywords
KeywordsPolish Armenians, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, art, 18th Century, 19th
Century.