The art of monumental painting of early medieval Armenia is hardly mentioned in the studies of art history. Partially, it could be explained by the fact that monumental paintings on the territory of historical Armenia were mostly lost, and among the scholars there has rooted an opinion that monumental paintings were not traditional. However, the study of the remains of the paintings, as well as archival photographs show us that in the 7th century the art of monumental painting in Armenia underwent an unprecedented development and reached its high peak. Another important conclusion is that the art of monumental painting had its bright pages in the history of medieval Armenia, which always corresponded with the periods of active contacts with Byzantium.

According to the studies, about thirty churches in central Armenia were decorated with monumental paintings. The Cathedrals of Echmiadzin and Dvin were decorated with mosaics, while the others with frescoes; in the temple of Zvartnots mosaics were combined with murals. The surviving fragments of frescoes give us grounds to assert the existence of two artistic and iconographic trends in early medieval Armenia, where one group of monuments reveals a certain closeness to the artistic traditions of the eastern provinces of Byzantium, and the other — to metropolitan monuments. Despite the fact that Christological images were not preserved, the apse compositions reveal various iconographic solutions. We can see the Ascension, Giving the Law, Hetoimasia, as well as the image of the Virgin. In spite of the great loss and fragmentary state of monumental paintings in Armenia, they are of great importance in the context of Eastern Christian art, as they prove to be an inseparable part of this cultural world.