Armenia, which embraced Christianity in the fourth century, has a multitude of early Christian buildings to rival Italy's in number and diversity. Successively invaded by waves of Byzantine, Turkish, Mongol, Arab, Ottoman and Persian conquerors, Armenia absorbed these disparate cultural influences while producing an autonomous art of striking individuality. Enriched with 959 plates (173 in color), this magnificent album surveys paintings, sculpture, architecture and crafts unusual for their audacious imagination, freshness of color, rich ornamentation and wealth of surprising effects. Cathedrals, painted manuscripts, ceramics, religious objects, mosaics and khatchkars (outdoor votive or commemorative stones) are among the treasures discussed by art historians Thierry and Donabedian. The panorama includes art of the Armenian disapora, from Crimea to Poland, Syria and Palestine.