DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27365#0050
38
/CfWOGRyl/W/C PPOG/MAfME
congregation to kiss. Moreover, John Chrysostom hoids it in front of him in the centre
of his breast just as the priest is supposed to do. Quite specific iiturgicai rituais were
thus indicated here: St Basil performs the prayer with which the service begins while
St John performs the ritual with which it closes. Through these two unusual depictions
of holy bishops those who devised the wall paintings at Akhtala tried to create a
symbolic image of the celebration of a liturgy composed of prayers and rituals in
which the bishops, with Christ as the high priest, participated.
The idea of the Church is reflected in the decoration of the niche of the synthronon
in the centre of the first tier of the altar apse. The Virgin Orant, the most vivid
embodiment of this idea among all the iconographic types of her representation, was
depicted here^. it is precisely this representation of the Virgin, we should note, which
appears in the 12-13th century in certain variants of the "Officiating Bishops"^. She is
also, incidentally, present in the wall paintings of Akhtala among the holy bishops
participating in the liturgy. An earthly bishop sits on the synthronon with its image of
the Virgin Orant, thereby providing a visual image of Christ the high priest celebrating
the liturgy in the Celestial Church 49, The earthly and heavenly liturgies, in the
author's conception, were to form an undivided whole within the area of the
synthronon, thereby creating the image of the ideal and indivisible Church. The theme
of the unity of celestial and terrestrial rituals, it is interesting to note, is also echoed in
the Prayer of Offering quoted in St Basil's book: there the earthly priest asks Christ to
accept the sacraments on His "altar in heaven above".
The symbolism of the synthronon enables us to understand why it is here, directly
over the niche, that we find the Greek inscription "...BOHQE TO AOliAO [I)ON
HOANN ..." ("... help thy servant Ioann..C)-^ referring to the church's patron or ktetor.
Originally there were three lines but only a few words can now be deciphered. We can
identify Ioann as Ivane Mkhargrdzeli, the patron of the monastery^ . The location of
the inscription and the absence of the patron's portrait help us to understand that this
prayer was being addressed to God not by Ivane Mkhargrdzeli himself but by the
Virgin Orant: her hands are raised in a gesture of emphatic supplication while holy
bishops to either side of the inscription celebrate the liturgy in the celestial Church. A
prayer for the ktetor of the monastery must also have been said daily in the church,
such prayers being traditional in the Eastern Christian liturgy. This inscription was
evidently intended to link two liturgical worlds in a single whole, the prayers of a
specific earthly church were supported by its counterpart in heaven.
47 The fragmentary preservation of the image does not altow us to see whether there was a
medation representing Christ Emmanuel on the breast of the Mother of God.
48 See S. Djuric^ "Some variants of the Officiating Bishops from the end of the 12th and the
beginning of the 13th century", JOB, 32/5 (1982), pp. 481-489.
49 The comparison of a bishop on the synthronon with Christ is often met in Byzantine iiturgicai
commentaries. See, for instance, Migne, PC, t. 155, coi. 721.
*79 This haif-obiiterated inscription was deciphered by F.V. Sheiov-Kovedyaev, to whom f am very
gratefui.
The character of the inscription does not aiiow us to assume that John was the artist's name.
/CfWOGRyl/W/C PPOG/MAfME
congregation to kiss. Moreover, John Chrysostom hoids it in front of him in the centre
of his breast just as the priest is supposed to do. Quite specific iiturgicai rituais were
thus indicated here: St Basil performs the prayer with which the service begins while
St John performs the ritual with which it closes. Through these two unusual depictions
of holy bishops those who devised the wall paintings at Akhtala tried to create a
symbolic image of the celebration of a liturgy composed of prayers and rituals in
which the bishops, with Christ as the high priest, participated.
The idea of the Church is reflected in the decoration of the niche of the synthronon
in the centre of the first tier of the altar apse. The Virgin Orant, the most vivid
embodiment of this idea among all the iconographic types of her representation, was
depicted here^. it is precisely this representation of the Virgin, we should note, which
appears in the 12-13th century in certain variants of the "Officiating Bishops"^. She is
also, incidentally, present in the wall paintings of Akhtala among the holy bishops
participating in the liturgy. An earthly bishop sits on the synthronon with its image of
the Virgin Orant, thereby providing a visual image of Christ the high priest celebrating
the liturgy in the Celestial Church 49, The earthly and heavenly liturgies, in the
author's conception, were to form an undivided whole within the area of the
synthronon, thereby creating the image of the ideal and indivisible Church. The theme
of the unity of celestial and terrestrial rituals, it is interesting to note, is also echoed in
the Prayer of Offering quoted in St Basil's book: there the earthly priest asks Christ to
accept the sacraments on His "altar in heaven above".
The symbolism of the synthronon enables us to understand why it is here, directly
over the niche, that we find the Greek inscription "...BOHQE TO AOliAO [I)ON
HOANN ..." ("... help thy servant Ioann..C)-^ referring to the church's patron or ktetor.
Originally there were three lines but only a few words can now be deciphered. We can
identify Ioann as Ivane Mkhargrdzeli, the patron of the monastery^ . The location of
the inscription and the absence of the patron's portrait help us to understand that this
prayer was being addressed to God not by Ivane Mkhargrdzeli himself but by the
Virgin Orant: her hands are raised in a gesture of emphatic supplication while holy
bishops to either side of the inscription celebrate the liturgy in the celestial Church. A
prayer for the ktetor of the monastery must also have been said daily in the church,
such prayers being traditional in the Eastern Christian liturgy. This inscription was
evidently intended to link two liturgical worlds in a single whole, the prayers of a
specific earthly church were supported by its counterpart in heaven.
47 The fragmentary preservation of the image does not altow us to see whether there was a
medation representing Christ Emmanuel on the breast of the Mother of God.
48 See S. Djuric^ "Some variants of the Officiating Bishops from the end of the 12th and the
beginning of the 13th century", JOB, 32/5 (1982), pp. 481-489.
49 The comparison of a bishop on the synthronon with Christ is often met in Byzantine iiturgicai
commentaries. See, for instance, Migne, PC, t. 155, coi. 721.
*79 This haif-obiiterated inscription was deciphered by F.V. Sheiov-Kovedyaev, to whom f am very
gratefui.
The character of the inscription does not aiiow us to assume that John was the artist's name.