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2 76 ARMENIA AND THE NEAR EAST
struction, which was quite distinct from the ancient Roman
domed edifice, found its way to Europe already in the early
Middle Ages ; as previously suggested (p. 35), it may have
furnished the idea for St. Sophia, and it spread westwards,
probably through the instrumentality of Armenian emigrants,
and very likely in connection with the Goths. There are
several churches and baptistries, which are typically Armenian
in style, in Athens, North Italy (Milan), France (Germigny
des-Prés, near Orleans), and several other places ; and this
construction was much used in the numerous churches on
Mount Athos. 1 The style of building with a central dome
attained its highest development in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries in the work of masters like Brunelleschi, Alberti,
Leonardo, Bramante, and Vignola (the Church of Jesus at
Rome), and its fruits may be seen in the cathedral at Florence
and the dome of St. Peter’s. There are plans and sketches by
Leonardo which bear such a striking resemblance to the
Armenian churches with their domes and supporting niches
that it is difficult to imagine that he could have designed
them without first-hand knowledge of these buildings.*
With regard to the current opinion that it was Byzantium
that influenced the architecture of Armenia rather than the
reverse, it may be remarked that the Church of Armenia,
founded long before that of Byzantium, was always bitterly
opposed to the latter after the Council of Chalcedon ; more
over, Armenian architecture is sharply distinguished from the
Byzantine style by its austerity, its sparing and discreet use of
ornamentation, and especially by its dislike of religious
images of any kind. It presents a striking contrast to Hellenic
art and feeling, being connected, on the contrary, with the
religious conception which found expression in the teaching
of Zarathustra, namely the idea that the deity or the divine
beings were supernatural, abstract concepts which could not
in any way be embodied in or represented by human forms.
It springs from a deeper and more serious religious sentiment
in people whose religion is more spiritual and less materialistic
than that of the more easygoing inhabitants of large civilized
towns. The Jahve-worship of the Jews, and later on the
1 Cf. Strzygowski, op. eit.5 vo!. ii, p. 766 f. - lbid., pp. 863 ff.
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