Naghash Hovnatan (1661-1722)

Hovnatan was born in 1661 to a priestly family in the town of Shorot (now in the province of Nakhijevan). After receiving his elementary education from his father, Hovhannes Vardapet, he studied at the Monastery of St. Thomas in Agulis ( Nakhcivan ) He became an accomplished artist: in addition to being a poet and singer, he was a well-known painter. Indeed, his forename, Naghash, is the Persian word for painter.He married at an early age and had two sons: Hakob, who became a poet and painter like his father, and Harutiun, who also became a decorative painter.The family talent for painting was inherited by Hovnatan's descendants: he was the founder of the famous Hovnatanian ( Hovnatanyan ) dynasty of the painters, which included five generations of painters spread over nearly two centuries.

Interior walls, murals, and the great dome of Echmiadzin, decorated by the Artist Naghash Hovnatan in 1720 and restorated by his Grandson Hovnatan Hovanatanyan ( 1730-1801)  in 1781-1786.

 
Sources


The Heritage of Armenian Literature: From the sixth to the Eighteenth Century
  Writers: Agop Jack Hacikyan,Gabriel Basmajian,Edward S. Franchuk,Nourhan Ouzounian
Historically Dictionary of Armenia
  By : Rouben Paul Adalian