DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27365#0014
2
/Af7K0Dt/C770Af
writings of Muraviev and Yosseiiani attracted the interest of scholars to the Akhtaia
murais and iaid the foundations for subsequent research.
Twenty years iater a Tbilisi journal published A.D. Eritsov's article "The Akhtaia
monastery" which played an important role in the study of the monument^. Here for
the first time the monastery was identified with Plindzahank, an ancient foundation
frequently mentioned by mediaeval Armenian writers, thereby making it possible to
date the paintings historically. An interesting continuation of this article, so to speak,
is found in the work by E.S. Takaishvili, where the Georgian inscriptions connected
with the Akhtaia monastery were published"^.
fn the 1920s D.P. Gordeev, a student of F.I. Shmit, embarked on a study of the
Akhtaia wall paintings for the Caucasian Institute of History and Archaeology^.
However, his work was suspended at the very outset and did not reach the stage of
publication. The archives of the Georgian Museum of Arts contain only a typewritten
draft of an article with a description of the frescoes in the domed space and the altar
apse, which enables us to reconstruct certain details now lost^. These archives also
contain Gordeev's rough notes. On one sheet was found a classification of the stylistic
manners of the Akhtaia paintings^. Gordeev divided the paintings into five groups
situated in different parts of the church: the most austere and archaic paintings in the
altar apse; those on the soffits of the stepped arches; the lower tier of frescoes in the
south arm; the wall-paintings of the west arm; and those in the upper tier of the south
arm with the upper tiers of the south wall. He was well acquainted with Georgian
monuments and drew attention to the unusual selection of saints: "in this
Chalcedonian painting, which is situated in an area right on the border of Armenia and
Georgia, we find representations of Gregory of Armenia and also Jacob of Nisibus"^.
Unfortunately, the first and for many long years the only study of the Akhtaia wall
paintings was not completed and its results were not made available to scholars.
An important event took place in 1929 when a group of art copyists came to
Akhtaia. They were led by Lidia Durnovo who subsequently did a great deal of work
there in the 1930s making copies of the frescoes, which are now in the Art Gallery of
Armenia^. The copying was accompanied by a study of the monument and diagrams
were made of the disposition of the paintings^. Durnovo described the murals in
3 Eritsov, "Akhtaia Monastery", pp. 20-24.
4 Takaishviii, "The Georgian Inscriptions", pp. 138-45.
^D.P. Gordeev, "The KIAI Expedition to Debed-chai in !ate 1925 and eariy 1926", /zverhya
Ator;ko-ark/:eoZog;'c/:erkogo inrhtata (Transactions of the Caucasian Institute of History and
Archaeoiogy), Vol. IV, Tiflis, 1926, pp. 129-130.
6 D.P. Gordeev, "Akhtaia near Lori: Research Materiais", Georgian Museum of Arts, manuscript
and memoir fund, Piie 276, pp. 87-97.
7 Ibid., p. 173.
5 D.P. Gordeev, "The KIAI Expedition", p. 130.
7 See A.M. Lidov, "On the History and Methods of Copying Georgian Murais", 5red?:evekoyye /rerkf
Oraza (Medievai Frescoes of Georgia), exhibition cataiogue, Moscow, 1985, p. 20.
^0 Preserved in L.A. Durnovo's archive (The Art Gaiiery of Armenia, Manuscript Department, fund
211, No. 15838).
/Af7K0Dt/C770Af
writings of Muraviev and Yosseiiani attracted the interest of scholars to the Akhtaia
murais and iaid the foundations for subsequent research.
Twenty years iater a Tbilisi journal published A.D. Eritsov's article "The Akhtaia
monastery" which played an important role in the study of the monument^. Here for
the first time the monastery was identified with Plindzahank, an ancient foundation
frequently mentioned by mediaeval Armenian writers, thereby making it possible to
date the paintings historically. An interesting continuation of this article, so to speak,
is found in the work by E.S. Takaishvili, where the Georgian inscriptions connected
with the Akhtaia monastery were published"^.
fn the 1920s D.P. Gordeev, a student of F.I. Shmit, embarked on a study of the
Akhtaia wall paintings for the Caucasian Institute of History and Archaeology^.
However, his work was suspended at the very outset and did not reach the stage of
publication. The archives of the Georgian Museum of Arts contain only a typewritten
draft of an article with a description of the frescoes in the domed space and the altar
apse, which enables us to reconstruct certain details now lost^. These archives also
contain Gordeev's rough notes. On one sheet was found a classification of the stylistic
manners of the Akhtaia paintings^. Gordeev divided the paintings into five groups
situated in different parts of the church: the most austere and archaic paintings in the
altar apse; those on the soffits of the stepped arches; the lower tier of frescoes in the
south arm; the wall-paintings of the west arm; and those in the upper tier of the south
arm with the upper tiers of the south wall. He was well acquainted with Georgian
monuments and drew attention to the unusual selection of saints: "in this
Chalcedonian painting, which is situated in an area right on the border of Armenia and
Georgia, we find representations of Gregory of Armenia and also Jacob of Nisibus"^.
Unfortunately, the first and for many long years the only study of the Akhtaia wall
paintings was not completed and its results were not made available to scholars.
An important event took place in 1929 when a group of art copyists came to
Akhtaia. They were led by Lidia Durnovo who subsequently did a great deal of work
there in the 1930s making copies of the frescoes, which are now in the Art Gallery of
Armenia^. The copying was accompanied by a study of the monument and diagrams
were made of the disposition of the paintings^. Durnovo described the murals in
3 Eritsov, "Akhtaia Monastery", pp. 20-24.
4 Takaishviii, "The Georgian Inscriptions", pp. 138-45.
^D.P. Gordeev, "The KIAI Expedition to Debed-chai in !ate 1925 and eariy 1926", /zverhya
Ator;ko-ark/:eoZog;'c/:erkogo inrhtata (Transactions of the Caucasian Institute of History and
Archaeoiogy), Vol. IV, Tiflis, 1926, pp. 129-130.
6 D.P. Gordeev, "Akhtaia near Lori: Research Materiais", Georgian Museum of Arts, manuscript
and memoir fund, Piie 276, pp. 87-97.
7 Ibid., p. 173.
5 D.P. Gordeev, "The KIAI Expedition", p. 130.
7 See A.M. Lidov, "On the History and Methods of Copying Georgian Murais", 5red?:evekoyye /rerkf
Oraza (Medievai Frescoes of Georgia), exhibition cataiogue, Moscow, 1985, p. 20.
^0 Preserved in L.A. Durnovo's archive (The Art Gaiiery of Armenia, Manuscript Department, fund
211, No. 15838).