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

Building:	Zhibiani, Church of the Virgin ("Lamaria")
Layer of the Murals:	Second Layer
Date/Period:	11th century
Donor(s):	Unknown
Painter(s):	Unknown

Inscription(s)

of the Donor(s)

of the Painter(s)

Description

Chancel

In the chancel painted images presumably were distributed in two registres. The Deesis is represented in the conch. Only fragments of the Savior’s monumental figure with His right hand raised in blessing, lower part of the body of the Virgin in supplication and a seraph between them are visible. Due to the large-scale rendering of the conch composition, figures of archangels are shifted to the sections adjacent to the chancel in the hall vault; among the images relatively complete is a figure of an archangel wearing a knee-length loros represented on the southern section.

The painting in the second registre is almost completely destroyed; small fragments of green color can be discerned.

Aisle

The painting of the aisle is also composed in two registres, although the scenes and the figures are not separated by the horizontal strips or ornamental lines.

In the eastern section of the vault of the south wall, next to an archangel two frontal figures are depicted – the right one is holding a scroll; four similar frontal figures would be depicted on the western section too, but because of badly damaged plastering, only fragments of faces and nimbs of three of them have survived. Given the iconographic features, it is likely that a row of apostles was depicted on this part of the vault.

A full-length frontal figure of a saint with the right hand raised to the chest can be identified on the face of the supporting arch rested on a console of the south wall.

A contour of an archangel’s nimb and face has been preserved on the eastern section of the vault of the north wall. Relatively better visible are two frontal figures of saints standing next to the archangel. One of them is holding a scroll in the right hand.

In the second registre, composition of the Crucifixion (Ⴟ(ႳႠႰ)Ⴢ ႻႪႤႥႨႱႠ – The Victorious Cross) is depicted. Figures of a centurion and, supposedly, a holy mother must be depicted next to the Virgin (Ⴃ(Ⴄ)Ⴃ(Ⴀ)Ⴢ Ⴖ(ႫႰႧႨႱႠ)Ⴢ: – Mother of God) and St. John the Evangelist (Ⴈ(ႭႠႬ)Ⴄ Ⴋ(Ⴀ)Ⴞ(Ⴀ)Ⴐ[(Ⴄ)Ⴁ(Ⴄ)ႪႨ] – John the Evangelist) facing the Savior.

Frontal figures of four saints can be discerned on the western section of the north wall; three of them are holding rolled-up scrolls, while only the silhouette of the fourth can be observed. It is probable that rows comprising six figures of apostles were placed next to the archangels on both panels of the vault of the church.

In the second registre, composition of the Transfiguration is depicted. Due to severe damage, in the upper section of the scene only upper parts of the figures of the Savior, encircled in a mandorla, Saint Moses and Elias the Prophet can be discerned.

On the west wall images have survived in the first registre: a pale outline of two nimbs can be seen north of the window, and a half-length figure depicted in orans posture – on its south. Images of saints must have been represented on both lintels of the window, of which only traces have survived.

Dating

Different suggestions have been made in scholarly literature about the wall painting of the Virgin church in Zhvibiani. René Schmerling points out two painting layers and dates the later one by the eleventh century (René Shmerling, Malye formy v arkhitekture srednevekovoj Gruzii [Minor Forms in the Architecture of Medieval Georgia] (Tbilisi,1962), 229). Tatiana Shevjakova observed that there are three layers of painting in the church; she believes the earliest was created in the 10th century. The scholar notes that the interior of the church should 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, the scholar dated the first layer by the tenth-eleventh centuries, although a number of issues related to this problem remained unexamined (Tat’jana Shevjakova, Monumental’najasZhivopis’ rannego srednevekov’ja Gruzii [Monumental Painting of the Early Medieval Georgia] (Tbilisi, 1983), 23-4). Natela Aladashvili, Gajane 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 of the church. They believe that initially only the chancel screen was painted. They dated the decoration of the first layer 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 dating) (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 murals 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 paintings of Svaneti of the 9th-10th centuries (e.g., the first layer of the chancel decoration of Nakipari church of St. George), while the manner of constructing the figures typical of the painting in the nave, as well as some stylistic features, brings it closer to the monuments of the late 10th century and the early 11th century (for instance, Atsi church of the Holy Archangels, Ipkhi church of St. George, Murkmeli church of the Saviour).

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.

Tat’jana Shevjakova, Monumental’najasZhivopis’ rannego srednevekov’ja Gruzii [Monumental Painting of the Early Medieval Georgia] (Tbilisi, 1983), 23–4.

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.

Marine Q’enia, “Mkhatvrobis saert’o sistemis gadats’q’vetis t’aviseburebani adreuli khanis Svanet’is mokhatulobebshi” [“Pecularities of the General Arrangement of the Decoration System in Early Medieval Murals in Svaneti”], Sak’art’velos Sidzveleni [Georgian Antiquities] 12 (2008): 133–4.

Marine Q’enia, “Svanet’is mokhatulobat’a ap’sidaluri sk’emebi (IX–XIII saukuneebi)” [“Apsidal Schemes of Svaneti Murals (9th – early 13th c.)”], Sak’art’velos Sidzveleni [Georgian Antiquities] 21 (2019): 65–7.