Greco-Roman ornamental motifs in Armenia and Iran : commonality and sustainability of traditions (5th–11th centuries)

The art of medieval Armenia and neighboring Persia, as it started to take shape around 400, faithfully followed late antique traditions, with the most striking manifestations to be found in ornamentation. Though opposing religions dominated the two realms, the art of Armenia and Persia shows a pronounced common fidelity to Greco-Roman origins in iconography, style, and symbolism, especially in decorative motifs rendered in stone, plaster, and metal. While Armenian and Persian images of acanthus, palmettes, vines, and geometric motifs shared the same fidelity to Hellenistic origins, they also diverged from those antecedents in tandem, showing a common trend toward stylization and geometrization. What emerged by the eleventh century was a complete rejection in both Armenia and Persia of the antique Greco-Roman adherence to nature.