Despite its incredible richness, the Armenian cultural heritage remains today at the margins of the art historical canon. The roots of this situation can be traced back to the second half of 19th century when Armenian art was deliberately marginalized by the official scholarship within the Russian Empire. By providing a historiographical examination of this context, we aim to demonstrate how medieval Armenian art became a tool in the Russian imperialistic policy. Besides, we also attempt to address the impact of the late 19th-century imperialism on our present.