Tbeti, Murals of the Cathedral of Holy Apostles. First Layer

Building:	Tbeti, Cathedral of Holy Apostles
Layer of the Murals:	First Layer
Date/Period:	Second half of 11th century
Donor(s):	An unknown bishop of Tbeti and duke of Shavsheti, the second half of the eleventh century
Painter(s):	Unknown; It is presumed that different masters executed the paintings in the chancel conch and the second registre (according to Ekaterina Privalova)

Inscription(s)

of the Donor(s)

of the Painter(s)

Description

Prior to explosion of the cathedral, the layer of the second half of the 11th century was mostly observable in the chancel, on the open arcade of the north wall and on the eastern face of the south-west pier of the bishop’s niche.

Chancel

The painting in the chancel was distributed in three registres:

The conch exposed a multi-figure Christ in Majesty with hosts of angels: the Savior with an open codex (John 8:12) is seated on a richly decorated throne (Ἰ(ησοῦ)ς | [Χ(ριστὸ)ς] – Jesus Christ) with the right hand raised in blessing and encircled within a three-layer mandorla. There were two much smaller frontal figures of angels with labara and spheres, as well as two seraphim standing on fiery wheels and two angels with scrolls (a text [Isaiah 6:3] are preserved on the unrolled scroll of one of them) depicted on each side of the mandorla.

Ten figures divided by the only window were represented in the second register of the chancel. The two middle figures – the Virgin and St. John the Baptist – were holding unrolled scrolls with an inscription raised towards Christ. Inscriptions on the scrolls had not been read prior to destruction of the painting; presumably, they both contained a traditional text (the Virgin’s scroll: supplication conveyed in the form of a dialogue; that of the Baptist: John 1:29). Both sides of the figures featured St. Peter and St. Paul, four evangelists (two figures on each side) and an apostle (on the edge of the north wall, probably St. Andrew). In the third registre a ten-figure row of holy bishops divided in two hosts was depicted; among the figures only St. Athanasios of Alexandria had been identified (the second figure from the edge of the south wall).

Lintels of the only chancel window were adorned with a floral ornament.

In the chancel the registres were marked off by ornamental bands (apparently, a variety of a so-called ‘step-like ornament’); presence of similar ornaments is assumed on the inner faces of the arches of the open gallery of the second floor in the north arm of the church.

Nowadays, it is impossible to identify the images existing on the rest of the sections prior to the 1960s. Depictions of the four-scene cycle of St. George executed on the arches of the gallery installed in the west arm, as well as the image of St. Eudemons depicted in the same arm must belong to the period of reconstruction of the structure that took place in the 13th century, or even to the later period.

Dating

Scholars date the painting differently. It is presumed to be contemporaneous with construction of the church (Shalva Amiranashvili, Istorija gruzinskoj srednevekovoj monumental’noj zhivopisi [History of Medieval Georgian Monumental Painting] I (Tbilisi, 1957), 108); the beginning of the 11th century is suggested (Tinatin Virsaladze, “Osnovnye etapy razvitija gruzinskoj srednevekovoj monumenta’noj zhivopisi” [“Main Stages of Development of Medieval Georgian Monumental Painting”], II Mezhdunarodnij simpozium po gruzinskomu iskusstvu [II International Symposium on Georgian Art] (Tbilisi, 1977), 9–10; Reprinted in id., Izbrannye trudy [Collected Studies] (Tbilisi, 2007), 15-6); the chronological spell following the 11th-century renovation (before 1028) of the architecture of the church  is supposed (Ekaterina Privalova, “Notes on the Murals of Tao-Klarjeti (X-XIII cc.)”, in Ἄγιον Ὄρος. Φύση – Λατρεία – Τέχνη, Β’ (Θεσσαλονίκη, 2001), 70-1). Considering artistic characteristics of the painting, it has been suggested that it can be attributed to the late 12th century – beginning of the 13th century (Nicole et Michel Thierry, “La cathédrale de T’beti. Nouvelles données”, Cahiers Arhéologiques 47 (1999), 89-96).

Iconographical and stylistic features of the paintings allow us to presume that the frescos of the chancel of Tbeti Cathedral must belong to the second half, specifically, the third quarter of the 11th century. It has been assumed that while executing the murals in Nakipari church of St. George in Svaneti (1130), it was the painting of the chancel of Tbeti Cathedral that served as one of the prototypes for ‘King’s painter’ Tevdore (Ekaterina Privalova, “Notes on the Murals of Tao-Klarjeti (X-XIII cc.)”, in Ἄγιον Ὄρος. Φύση – Λατρεία – Τέχνη, Β’ (Θεσσαλονίκη, 2001), 70-1).

Bibliography

Andrej Pavlinov, “Ehkspeditcia na Kavkaz 1888 goda” [“1888 Expedition to Caucasus”], Materialy po arkheologii Kavkaza [Materias for the Archeology of Caucasus] III (1893): 71–5.

Georgij Merchul’, Zhitie sv. Grigorija Khandztijskago. Gruzinskij tekst’. Vvedenie, izdanie, perevod’ N. Marra s dnevnikom poezdki v Shavshiju i Klardzhiju [Giorgi Merchul, The Life of St. Gregory of Khantst’a. Georgian Text. Introduction, Edition, and Translation by N. Marr with the Journal of the Journey to Shavshet’i and Klarjet’i] [Teksty i razyskanija po armjano-gruzinskoj filologii: VII] (Saint-Petersburg, 1911), 10–25; Reprinted in Niko Mari, shavshet’sa da klarjet’shi mogzaurobis dghiurebi [Journal of the Journey to Shavshet’i and Klarjet’i] (Batumi, 2015), 116–42.

Shalva Amiranashvili, Istorija gruzinskoj srednevekovoj monumental’noj zhivopisi [History of Medieval Georgian Monumental Painting] I (Tbilisi, 1957), 108.

Tinatin Virsaladze, “Osnovnye etapy razvitija gruzinskoj srednevekovoj monumenta’noj zhivopisi” [“Main Stages of Development of Medieval Georgian Monumental Painting”], II Mezhdunarodnij simpozium po gruzinskomu iskusstvu [II International Symposium on Georgian Art] (Tbilisi, 1977), 9–10; Reprinted in id., Izbrannye trudy [Collected Studies] (Tbilisi, 2007), 15–6.

Nicole et Michel Thierry, “La cathedrale de T’beti. Nouvelles donnees“, Cahiers archéologiques 47 (1999): 77–100.

Ekaterina Privalova, “Notes on the Murals of Tao-Klarjeti (X-XIII cc.)”, in Ἄγιον Ὄρος. Φύση – Λατρεία – Τέχνη, Β’ (Θεσσαλονίκη, 2001), 70–1, fig. 14.

Mariam Didebulidze, “Shua saukuneebis k’art’uli kedlis mkhatvrobis dzeglebi tao-klarjet’shi” [“The Monuments of the Georgian Medieval Wall Painting in the North-East Turkey”], Sak’art’velos sidzveleni [Georgian Antiquities] 19 (2016): 58–9.

Due to the destruction of the major part of the painting, archival photo material and copies are attached the importance of the original.

Photos- Andrei Pavlinov, “Ekspeditsija na Kavkaz” [“The Expedition to the Caucasus, 1888”], Materialy po Arkheologii Kavkaza [Materials on the Archaeology of the Caucasus] III (1893), pl. XLII, XLIII (Photos of Ivan Barshchevski, 1888); Some photos in Nicole Thierry’s article about Tbeti Cathedral (Nicole et Michel Thierry, “La cathedrale de T’beti. Nouvelles donnees“, Fig. 26-33).

Schemes- General scheme of two central figures of the second registre of the chancel painting is executed by Nicole Thierry, see (Nicole et Michel Thierry, “La cathedrale de T’beti. Nouvelles donnees“, Fig. 31).