363. Tomb at Varzahan. (From Layard’s ‘Nineveh and Babylon.’)
There are also some examples of circular churches, but these are far from being numerous. Generally speaking they are tombs, or connected with sepulchral rites, and are indeed mere amplifications of the usual tombs of the natives of the country, which are generally little models of the domes of Armenian churches placed on the ground, though perhaps it would be more correct to say that the domes were copied from the tombs than the reverse.
The most elegant of all those hitherto made known is one found at Ani, illustrated in Woodcuts Nos. [361], [362]. Notwithstanding the smallness of its dimensions, it is one of the most elegant sepulchral chapels known.
Another on a larger scale (Woodcut No. [363]) is borrowed from Mr. Layard’s book. This tomb shows all the peculiarities of the Armenian style of the 11th or 12th century. Though so much larger, it is by no means so beautiful as the last mentioned tomb at Ani. In its ornamentation a further refinement is introduced, inasmuch as the reed-like columns are tied together by true love-knots instead of capitals—a freak not uncommon either in Europe at the same age, or in the East at the present day, but by no means to be recommended as an architectural expedient.
364. Capital at Ani. (From Grimm.)
365. Capital at Gelathi. (From Grimm.)
With scarcely an exception, all the buildings in the Armenian provinces are so small that they would hardly deserve a place in a history of architecture were it not for the ingenuity of their plans and the elegance of their details. The beauty of the latter is so remarkable that, in order to convey a correct notion of the style, it would be necessary to illustrate them to an extent incompatible with the scope of this work. In them too will be found much that has hitherto been ascribed to other sources. The annexed capital (Woodcut No. [364]), for instance, would generally be put down as Saracenic of the best age, but it belongs, with a great deal more quite as elegant, to one of the churches at Ani; and the capital from Gelathi (Woodcut No. [365]) would not excite attention if found in Ireland. The interlacing scrolls which occupy its head are one of the most usual as well as one of the most elegant modes of decoration employed in the province, and are applied with a variety and complexity nowhere else found in stone, though they may be equalled in some works illustrated by the pen.