Zhibiani, Murals of the Church of the Virgin. First Layer

Building:	Zhibiani, Church of the Virgin ("Lamaria")
Layer of the Murals:	First Layer
Date/Period:	9th-10th cc.
Donor(s):	Unknown
Painter(s):	Unknown

Inscription(s)

of the Donor(s)

of the Painter(s)

Description

Chancel Screen

Two layers of painting can be distinguished on the three-part stone chancel screen erected in front of the chancel. It is obvious that initially only the chancel screen was adorned with painted decoration, while the interior of the church was painted completely later.

The entablement of the chancel screen is ornamented with a graphic decoration composed of semicircular and herringbone motifs. A similar ornament is visible on the framing of the chancel arches; a simple equal-armed cross is depicted in the center of the middle arch. Artistic expressiveness of the decoration is emphasized by the embellishment of the capitals of the chancel columns – they had been adorned with simple forms outlined in cinnabar and repeat the architectural form.

Dating

Different suggestions have been made about the wall painting of the church of the Mother of God in Zhvibiani. Rene Schmerling points out two painting layers and dates the later one by the 11th century (René Shmerling, Malye formy v arkhitekture srednevekovoj Gruzii [Minor Forms in the Architecture of Medieval Georgia] (Tbilisi, 1962), 229). Tatiana Shevyakova observed that there are three layers of painting in the church; she believed the earliest was created in the 10th century. The scholar notes that the interior of the church must have been decorated with wall painting from the very beginning; later, in the 11th century, it was repainted, and in the 13th century part of the images in the chancel was renovated. Consequently, she considers the decoration of the chancel screen and the nave to belong to the same layer (Tatj’ana Shevjakova, “Rospis’ pervogo sloja zhivopisi tcerkvi Lamaria sela Zhibiani sel’soveta Ushguli (Verkhnaja Svanetija)” [“First Layer Murals of the Lamaria Church in the Zhibiani Village of the Ushguli Community (Upper Svanet’i)”], Sak’art’velos metsnierebat’a akademiis matsne [Bulletin of the Georgian Academy of Sciences XVII, №2 (1964): 189-90). Later, Shevjakova dated the first layer by the 10th-11th centuries, although a number of issues related to this problem remained unexamined (Tat’jana Shevjakova, Monumental’naja Zhivopis’ rannego srednevekov’ja Gruzii [Monumental Painting of the Early Medieval Georgia] (Tbilisi, 1983), 23-4). Natela Aladashvili, Gaiane Alibegashvili and Anel Volskaya share the primary dating of the wall painting, as well as division of the layers provided by Tatiana Shevjakova (Natela Aladashvili, Gajane Alibegashvili, Aneli Volskaja, Zhivopisnaja shkola Svaneti [The Painting School of Svaneti] (Tbilisi, 1983), 12, 16-7). Later, Rusudan Q’enia and Natela Aladashvili expressed a different opinion about the layers of the painting adorning the church. They believe that initially only the chancel screen was painted. They dated the first layer decoration in the nave by the end of the 10th century and the beginning of the 11th century (as far as the rest of the layers are concerned, they share Tatiana Shevjakova’s dates) (Rusudan Q’enia, Nat’ela Aladashvili, Zemo svanet’i (shua saukuneebis khelovneba). Gzamkvlevi [Medieval Art of Upper Svaneti: A Guidebook] [Sak’art’velos megzuri [Guide of Georgia]: 2] (Tbilisi, 2000), 33-4).

Observation on the painted decoration of Zhibiani church of the Virgin showed that the early layers of the paintings of the chancel screen and the interior are executed in different periods of time. In stylistic terms, the first layer decoration of the chancel screen stands close to decorations of Svaneti of the 9th-10th centuries (e.g., the first layer of Nakip’ari church of St. George), while the murals of the nave have more in common with some monuments of the 11th century.

Bibliography

René Shmerling, Malye formy v arkhitekture srednevekovoj Gruzii [Minor Forms in the Architecture of Medieval Georgia] (Tbilisi, 1962), 229.

Tatj’ana Shevjakova, “Rospis’ pervogo sloja zhivopisi tcerkvi Lamaria sela Zhibiani sel’soveta Ushguli (Verkhnaja Svanetija)” [“First Layer Murals of the Lamaria Church in the Zhibiani Village of the Ushguli Community (Upper Svanet’i)”], Sak’art’velos metsnierebat’a akademiis matsne [Bulletin of the Georgian Academy of Sciences XVII, №2 (1964): 189–205.

Natela Aladashvili, Gajane Alibegashvili, Aneli Volskaja, Zhivopisnaja shkola Svaneti [The Painting School of Svaneti] (Tbilisi, 1983), 12.

Rusudan Q’enia, Nat’ela Aladashvili, Zemo svanet’i (shua saukuneebis khelovneba). Gzamkvlevi [Medieval Art of Upper Svaneti: A Guidebook] [Sak’art’velos megzuri [Guide of Georgia]: 2] (Tbilisi, 2000), 33–4.