Georgian Wall Painting
  2. /
  3. Murals
  4. /
  5. Telovani, Murals of the...

Telovani, Murals of the Church of Holy Cross. Second Layer

Building: Telovani, Church of Holy Cross
Layer of the Murals: Second Layer
Date/Period: 10th c.
Donor(s): Unknown
Painter(s): Unknown
Building Gallery

Inscription(s)

of the Donor(s)
of the Painter(s)

Description

The second layer of the painting embellished certain parts of the interior. Its fragments have survived on the sub-dome pilasters, the east wall of the north arm and the south wall of the west arm.

 

Chancel

South and north pilasters of the chancel bema, as well as the south-east corner pilaster of the west arm had frontal figures of holy warriors. Only their fragments have survived. St. George killing Diocletian was depicted on the north-east corner pilaster of the west arm: due to dislocation of the plaster only a fragment has survived: the lower part of the saint’s frontal figure and a small figure of Diocletian depicted at the warrior’s feet can be observed.

 

Aisle

The north apse on the eastern wall probably had a big-size figure (preserved fragmentarily); it was bordered by a thick, two-sided ornament.

Fragments of a stylized floral ornament can be identified on the northern corner of the east wall of the bema of the same apse, while a line of circles with eight-petal rosettes and simple cruciform twisted pattern inscribed in them embellished the outer, southern face of the bema.

An image of a donor, a bearded man, probably a clergyman, can fragmentarily be observed on the left area of a large composition bordered on four sides on the south wall of the west arm.

Bibliography

Tat’jana Shevjakova, “Data rospisi pervogo sloja khrama Telovani” [“Date of the First Layer of Paintings in the Telovani Church”], Sak’art’velos metsnierebat’a akademiis moambe [Bulletin of the Georgian Academy of Sciences] XXXI, №1 (1964): 235–42.

Tat’jana Shevjakova, Monumental’naja zhivopis’ rannego srednevekov’ja Gruzii [Monumental Painting of the Early Medieval Georgia] (Tbilisi, 1983), 6–7.

Zaza Skhirtladze, Adreuli shua saukuneebis kart’uli kedlis mkhatvroba. T’elovanis jvarpatiosani [Early Medieval Georgian Monumental Painting. Telovani Church of the Holy Cross] (Tbilisi, 2008).