Gareja, Udabno Monastery, Church of the Virgin,
Murals of Diaconicon. First Layer

Building:	Gareja, Udabno Monastery, Church of the Virgin, Diaconicon
Layer of the Murals:	First Layer
Date/Period:	10th c.
Donor(s):	Unknown
Painter(s):	Unknown

Inscription(s)

of the Donor(s)

of the Painter(s)

Description

Initially, the interior of the diaconicon was partly painted – murals were executed in the chancel, on the ceiling of the hall, along the west and north walls, in the upper half.

Later, at the beginning of the 13th century, the diaconicon was covered with a thin coat of lime and adorned by paintings anew. The chancel composition remained intact and some images were added to it.

Chancel

The chancel shows an earlier iconographical variety of the three-figure composition of the Deesis: The Christ standing on a pedestal with his right hand in blessing and holding a codex, flanked by the Mother of God and the Forerunner in supplication.

Aisle

The uneven, wavy surface of the ceiling in the hall was decorated with a large cross depicted against the starry sky. The tetramorphs depicted on the area between the arms were accompanied by extracts from the Sanctus (ႼႫႨႣႠ ႠႰႱ ႼႫႨႣႠ ႠႰႱ ႼႫႨႣႠ ႠႰႱ – Holy, Holy, Holy).

West and north walls of the hall depict the life cycle of St. Davit’ Garejeli – it starts from the south corner of the west wall and extends uninterruptedly up to the eastern section of the north wall. The scenes are executed without framing; at the top and the bottom they are bordered with continuous lines of the mountain ridge and grassy-flowery ground.

In the first composition of the cycle, two monks are depicted facing each other and sitting against the background of hilly landscape. The right one with his raised hand in the sign of addressing must be St. Davit’, while the left one with a monk’s cowl and forked beard is probably St. Lukiane. Apparently, the scene depicts arrival of the Assyrian Fathers at the desert and the episode of their discussion about establishing there.

A monk praying before the cross with a slightly open book in his hands is depicted in the central part of the second composition accommodated between the trees with curled trunks. It is assumed that it is the scene depicting prayer of St. David.

A slightly bent figure of a monk can be observed in the upper right section of the third composition. He is facing a monk praying fervently in the lower part of the scene. Presumably, the scene must be associated with one of the miracles narrated in the life of St. Davit’ of Garejeli.

A small fragment can be identified on the western section of the north wall. It is a bent diagonal line which allows us to presume that here another, fourth composition was depicted.

In the fifth composition three monks are depicted against the background of a high mountain. The middle figure facing left, with a high-edged monk’s cowl and a long cloak is depicted holding a set square. In the left section of the scene, the second monk with forked beard, clad in monk’s tunic and cowl, is holding a long-handled spade and digging earth on a low hill. The third kneeling monk with a high forehead and longish beard is depicted in the lower, right part of the mountain with his hand stretched towards the low hill. It must be the scene of appearing of the spring cited in the life of the saint.

In the sixth composition a monk climbing the ladder diagonally placed against the hill is carrying a fellow monk sitting in a basket on his back; on their way up the hill, they are led by a radiant star depicted at the end of the ladder. The composition seems to be depicting St. Dodo climbing  on the with the monks and establishing the monastery of the Mother of God opposite to the Lavra of St. Davit’.

The final, seventh composition represents an episode of pilgrimage of St. Davit’ Garejeli to Jerusalem. On the left half of the scene there is St. Davit’ standing in front of the gates of Jerusalem with a bag hung on the shoulder and a long staff in his hand, and on the right half – two clergymen standing against the background of Jerusalem. The first – Patriarch Elia of Jerusalem (the inscription preserved at the head of the figure reads (ႤႪႨႠ – Elia) – moves towards St. Davit’ holding a long staff and the hand raised in the sign of appeal. The figure behind him has his sight and the right hand directed towards the upper right-hand section of the composition, where a half-figure of an angel must be depicted.

Dating

Different opinions have been expressed concerning the date of the first layer of paintings of the diaconicon of the main church of Udabno monastery. Shalva Amiranashvili assumed that thbe murals must have been created in the second half of the 9th century (Shalva Amiranashvili, Istorija gruzinskoj srednevekovoj monumental’noj zhivopisi [History of Medieval Georgian Monumental Painting] I (Tbilisi, 1957), 41-53); Guram Abramishvili dated the murals by the 860s, which was shared by Svetlana Tomekovich too (Guram Abramishvili, “Davit’ garejis udabnos monastris mt’avari eklesiis kedlis mkhatvrobis t’arighisat’vis” [Concerning the Dating of the Painting of the Udabno Monastery Main Church in Davit’ Gareji], Mats’ne: istoriis, ark’eologiis, etnograf’iisa da khelovnebis istoriis seria [Proceedings of the Georgian Academy of Sciences: Series of History, Archeology, Ethnography, and Art History] 5 (1970): 199-222; Guram Abramishvili, Davi’t garejelis tsikli k’art’ul kedlis mkhatvrobashi [The Cycle of Davit Garejeli in Georgian Wall Paintings] (Tbilisi, 1972), 21-59; Svetlana Tomekovic, “Les particularités du cycle paint de la vie de David Gareji (IXe-Xe siècle – debut du XIIIe siècle)“, Revúe des études géorgiannes et caucasiennes 2 (1986), 120-1); Tinatin Virsaladze and Anel Volskaia considered the painting was executed in the late 10th century or the early 11th century (Tinatin Virsaladze, “K voprosu o datirovke pervonachal’noj rospisi severnogo pridela glavnogo khrama monastyrja Udabno” [Concerning the Dating of the Initial Murals in the Northern Chapel of the Main Church in Udabno Monastery], Sak’art’velos metsnierebat’a akademiis sazogadoebriv metsnierebat’a ganq’op’ilebis moambe [Bulletin of the Section of the Social Sciences of the Georgian Academy of Sciences] 6 (1968): 239; Aneli Vol’skaja, Rospisi srednevekovykh trapeznykh Gruzii [Murals of Medieval Georgian Refectories] (Tbilisi, 1974), 87-97). Initially, Antony Eastmond shared such dating of the paintings (Antony Eastmond, “The Cult of St. Davit Garejeli: Patronage and Iconographic Change in the Gareji Desert“, in Zaza Shirtladze ed., Desert Monasticism. Gareja and the Christian East [Proceeding of Gareja Studies Centre: II] (Tbilisi, 2001), 226), but later, in consensus with Zaza Skhirtladze, the 10th century was named as the conjectural date of the frescos (Zaza Skhirtladze, Antony Eastmond, “Ts’. davit’ garejeli tskhovrebis tsikli udabnos monastris mt’avari eklesiis sadiakvnes mokhatulobashi: akhali monatsemebi da dakvirvebebi” [“Life Cycle of St. David Garejeli in the Murals of the Diaconicon of the Udabno Monastery Main Church. New Data and Observations”], Sak’art’velos sidzveleni [Georgian Antiquities] 2 (2002): 63; Antony Eastmond, Zaza Skhirtladze, “Udabno Monastery in Georgia: Innovation, Conservation and the Reinterpretation of Medieval Art“, Iconographica VII (2008): 23-43). Lado Mirianashvili identified one of the scenes of the life cycle of St. Davit’ which is considered as Appearing of the Spring with the scene of Finding the head of St. John the Baptist; he dates the murals of the diaconicon by the beginning of the 11th century and regards it as contemporaneous with the painting of the main church (Lado Mirianashvili, “Ts’. davit’ garejelis tskhovrebis ark’auli p’reskuli tsiklis akhleburi gaazreba” [“Archaic Mural Cycle of St. Davit Garejeli’s Life Reconsidered”], Istoriisa da et’nologiis institutis shromebi [Proceedings of the Institute of History and Ethnology] XIV–XV (2016–2017): 630).

Bibliography

Shalva Amiranashvili, Istorija gruzinskoj srednevekovoj monumental’noj zhivopisi [History of Medieval Georgian Monumental Painting] I (Tbilisi, 1957), 41–55.

Tinatin Virsaladze, “K voprosu o datirovke pervonachal’noj rospisi severnogo pridela glavnogo khrama monastyrja Udabno” [Concerning the Dating of the Initial Murals in the Northern Chapel of the Main Church in Udabno Monastery], Sak’art’velos metsnierebat’a akademiis sazogadoebriv metsnierebat’a ganq’op’ilebis moambe [Bulletin of the Section of the Social Sciences of the Georgian Academy of Sciences] 6 (1968): 223–39.

Guram Abramishvili, “Davit’ garejis udabnos monastris mt’avari eklesiis kedlis mkhatvrobis t’arighisat’vis” [Concerning the Dating of the Painting of the Udabno Monastery Main Church in Davit’ Gareji], Mats’ne: istoriis, ark’eologiis, etnograf’iisa da khelovnebis istoriis seria [Proceedings of the Georgian Academy of Sciences: Series of History, Archeology, Ethnography, and Art History] 5 (1970): 199–222.

Guram Abramishvili, Davi’t garejelis tsikli k’art’ul kedlis mkhatvrobashi [The Cycle of Davit Garejeli in Georgian Wall Paintings] (Tbilisi, 1972), 21–59.

Aneli Vol’skaja, Rospisi srednevekovykh trapeznykh Gruzii [Murals of Medieval Georgian Refectories] (Tbilisi, 1974), 87–99.

Svetlana Tomekovic, “Les particularités du cycle paint de la vie de David Gareji (IXe-Xe siècle – debut du XIIIe siècle)“, Revúe des études géorgiannes et caucasiennes 2 (1986): 114–34.

Aneli Vol’skaja, “Rospisi peshchernjkh monastyrej David Garedzhi” [“Murals of the David Gareji Cave Monasteries”], in Konstantine P’itskhelauri ed., Gareji [Kakhet’is ark’qeologiuri ek’speditsiis shromebi: VIII [Gareji. Studies of Kakheti Archeological Expedition: VIII] (Tbilisi, 1988), 87–98.

Antony Eastmond, “The Cult of St. Davit Garejeli: Patronage and Iconographic Change in the Gareji Desert“, in Zaza Shirtladze ed., Desert Monasticism. Gareja and the Christian East [Proceeding of Gareja Studies Centre: II] (Tbilisi, 2001), 220–39.

Zaza Skhirtladze, Antony Eastmond, “Ts’. davit’ garejeli tskhovrebis tsikli udabnos monastris mt’avari eklesiis sadiakvnes mokhatulobashi: akhali monatsemebi da dakvirvebebi” [“Life Cycle of St. David Garejeli in the Murals of the Diaconicon of the Udabno Monastery Main Church. New Data and Observations”], Sak’art’velos sidzveleni [Georgian Antiquities] 2 (2002): 28–49.

Antony Eastmond, Zaza Skhirtladze, “Udabno Monastery in Georgia: Innovation, Conservation and the Reinterpretation of Medieval Art“, Iconographica VII (2008): 23–43.

Lado Mirianashvili, “Ts’. davit’ garejelis tskhovrebis ark’auli p’reskuli tsiklis akhleburi gaazreba” [“Archaic Mural Cycle of St. Davit Garejeli’s Life Reconsidered”], Istoriisa da et’nologiis institutis shromebi [Proceedings of the Institute of History and Ethnology] XIV–XV (2016–2017): 623–34.