“Purple appears as image and form of space, as an eruption from the bowels of the abyss, almost a primordial element sustaining the cosmic structures, an epiphany of the arcana of divine genesis and palingenesis. The sky, the earth, and the sea are tinged with it; its fire blazes in the hair, the beard, and the little eyes of the divinely old yet newborn child. The Armenian word for ‘purple’ is tzirani (literally: apricot-coloured), etymologically linked to tziran, apricot, while the fruit itself is almost a symbol of Armenia even in its scientific name, Prunus armeniaca due to the uncommon flavour and colour of the Armenian apricot. In those years, among Armenians, the name Alpago-Novello had something mythical about it, almost shrouded in an aura of mystery between veneration and curiosity. But you know Alpago-Novello! How did you meet him? What’s it like working with him? — these were not infrequent questions at gatherings among Armenian friends. And it must be said, I believe, without fear of any exaggeration and without wishing to offend the modesty of the colleague and friend, that the service rendered by Adriano Alpago-Novello to the understanding and study of medieval art and, in particular, of Armenian architecture, stands among the highest achievements accomplished by Western Armenologists in the second half of the century just passed.”
– Levon Zekiyan