Meeting with Professor Przemysław Trzeciak

Professor PrzemysławTrzeciak (born 1931) is the co-author of the highly acclaimed 18-volume series The Art of the World. Together with Professor Anna Lewicka-Morawska and the team of the Interdepartmental Chair of History and Theory of Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, which he led for many years, he expanded the original edition to include the achievements of early Christian and medieval Armenian and Georgian art. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Polish edition of the volume.

Shortly before Easter, we visited the Professor and presented him with symbolic thanks from the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Poland — a commemorative plaque with the following dedication:

“For the invaluable contribution to the dissemination of knowledge about the early Christian and medieval history of Armenia, and for rightfully placing it within the pages of The Art of the World as an inseparable part of European civilisation and the world’s cultural heritage.”

Professor Trzeciak spoke with great insight about his work on the series, especially the chapters devoted to Armenia and Georgia, and about the motivations that guided him.

“I feel admiration and respect when I look at the works of medieval Armenia. The extraordinary mastery of its builders in shaping diverse spaces, which they enclosed with exquisite vaults supported by boldly designed arches. Such solutions would appear in the West only later. Was it with the participation of Armenian architects?!”

He expressed regret that he had never visited Armenia and feared he might no longer have the opportunity to do so. The initiative to commemorate this anniversary was undertaken by the Milk Brother Foundation.