MONUMENTS
MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN TO SAYAT-NOVA
1963
State index: 1.6.110
Architect: Eduard
Sarapyan
Sculptor: Ara
Harutyunyan
Material: marble
The monument is located at 46 Mesrop
Mashtots Avenue, in front of the Sayat-Nova Music School. It is dedicated to
the great Armenian poet and ashugh of the 18th century Sayat-Nova (Harutyun
Sayadyan, d. 1795). Sayat-Nova composed in Tbilisi, was the court singer of
King Herakles II of Kakheti. He composed not only in Armenian, but also in
other languages of the region,
becoming a symbol of the unification of Caucasian cultures. The monument is
made of white marble (3 × 3.75 × 0.4 m).
The monument is a rectangular memorial
wall lined with white marble stones, which, due to the wide opening in the
upper part and the absence of some stones in the lower part, seems to be
divided into two equal parts. On the left side of the wide opening is the bust
of Sayat-Nova, on the right is the spring, from which water flows into a
decorative, small pool in front of the memorial wall. The upper right-hand
stone of the memorial wall is covered with a bas-relief decorated with motifs
from Sayat-Nova's poems, which depict women in national headdresses (Armenian,
Georgian, Azerbaijani), and roses. The smoothness and rhythm of the lines
harmonize with the plastic forms of the poet's sculpture. His broad forehead,
regular features, the purity of the stone processing, and the white color
reveal the melancholic but inspiring image of the immortal singer of love.
The image of Sayat-Nova is conditional,
since the real portrait of the poet has not been preserved. Below the obelisk
are his famous lines, which seem to be the key to understanding the symbolic
combination of the fountain and the sculpture:
NOT EVERYONE CAN DRINK MY WATER; IT'S
FROM A DIFFERENT SPRING.
NOT EVERYONE CAN READ MY WRITING; IT'S
FROM A DIFFERENT PEN.
DON'T THINK MY FOUNDATION IS SAND; IT'S
ROCK, IT'S STONE AND MORTAR.
SAYAT-NOVA, 1753
In 1964, sculptor Ara Harutyunyan was
awarded the Silver Medal of the USSR Academy of Fine Arts for the Sayat-Nova
Fountain.
