The "Armenian treasures from a culture on the move, 1512-1828" exhibition

As part of the monthly seminar Etudes arméniennes organized by Inalco and the Société des études arméniennes.
Affiche d'une exposition sur les trésors arméniens
Affiche et couverture de Trésors arméniens d’une culture en mouvement, 1512-1828, Exposition au Musée de la basilique de Notre-Dame de la Garde, du 5 décembre 2025 au 1er mai 2026. Maxime K. Yevadian (dir.) © Sources d’Arménie, 2025‎

Speech by Maxime Yevadian, research associate at the CNRS HiSoMA laboratory

Historian, working in particular on the Christianization of Armenia and the ancient and medieval Middle East, Maxime Yevadian was Chair of Armenology at the Catholic University of Lyon from 2011 to 2021. He is a research associate at the CNRS HiSoMA laboratory, UMR 5189, Lyon.

Latest books published: Les métamorphoses de Tigrane with Alexandre Siranossian (2014), Arménie, un Atlas historique (2016) (Dir.). Enrico dal Cavolo and Yevadian Maxime K. (curator), Inchiesta sulla storia dei primi secoli della Chiesa, Pontificio Comitato di Scienze Storiche, Atti documenti 68, Libreria Editrice Vaticano, 2024.

This exhibition and its catalog trace the process of modernization of Armenian society.

At the beginning of the 16th century, it was still strongly imbued with the medieval heritage and the memory of the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia. Three centuries later, Armenians were among the most dynamic societies in the Middle East. This intellectual and cultural modernization was underpinned by the growth of a powerful network of international merchants from China to Europe.

The union of enlightened prelates and merchants enabled the preservation of an ancient heritage, but also the production of exceptional new works. The ambition of the exhibition and its catalog is to unveil for the first time these little-known treasures, largely from private collections.

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