DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27365#0107
CTf/TT ATTS'TT'R
95
he was trained in neighbouring Georgia, where monumental art was flourishing at the
time. A galaxy of brilliant painters worked there on its numerous murals in the early
13th century.
An examination of the style and technique of the apse murals, which are
spectacularly unlike Georgian frescoes, forces us to reject this hypothesis, however.
Techniques offer more lasting and reliable criteria than style, susceptible as the latter
is to changes in fashion. The faces are painted on a solid dark-green layer with several
successive layers of lighter paint standing out in contrast. Widely used in Byzantine
art, this technique was extremely seldom encountered in Georgia before the early 14th
century. Also in keeping with the Byzantine tradition, the lights and shades in the
clothes are represented in three grades of intensity, as against the Georgian one or
two6.
The style presents even greater differences. The overall colour scheme is striking,
with the glowing colours of the figures standing out against the bright blue
background. Georgian frescoes of the early 13th century are rather restrained in
colour. In their search for general harmony, Georgian painters gave up the Byzantine
"figure-background" contrast. For instance, they preferred the decorative convention
of blues and whites for the ground in their 11th-13th century works to the bright
green of "The Communion of the Apostles" in Akhtala, which Georgians would have
deemed too naturalistic.
Unlike his Georgian colleagues of the early 13th century, with whom exquisite
beauty and harmony reigned supreme, the Chief Master of Akhtala sought dramatic
tension above all. He deliberately broke the architectonics in the tier arrangement to
exaggerate the upper part of the apse. The monumental figures are dynamically
arranged, with affected gestures and a distortion of their natural proportions. They
have the effect of a high relief, with heavy, voluminous shapes. The sumptuous vest-
ments stream down in gorgeous, somewhat exaggerated draperies. The highlights in
the faces are often painted directly on the basic dark-green layer. The dramatic effect
of the contrast is increased by dark shadows, some doubling the white lights.
Drama goes hand in hand with a decorative quality. Every shape is its element, the
vestments forming patterns with their parallel or fan-like folds, and every detail
conventionalised. The lights, treated as line contours, have a pronounced decorative
purpose at the expense of symbolism. The shadows on the faces have a geometrical
precision. Every spiral lock emphasises the ornamental quality of the hair.
The frescoes abound in rhythmic repetitions. A wrinkle on the forehead may echo
a fold of the neck to produce the effect of pulsating shapes of similar forms in varied
sizes. With a rich set of conventionalised expressive means, the artist portrays the
heavenly liturgy as a sumptuous otherworldly ceremony. His search for the utmost
expressive power in the outer form goes together with a refined spirituality. The
resultant impression is of superhuman tension and concentrated force.
^ This observation belongs to T.S. Shevyakova, who has spent many years copying Georgian
murals. The techniques of the Akhtala altar murals are thoroughly different, in her view, from those
accepted in Georgia.
95
he was trained in neighbouring Georgia, where monumental art was flourishing at the
time. A galaxy of brilliant painters worked there on its numerous murals in the early
13th century.
An examination of the style and technique of the apse murals, which are
spectacularly unlike Georgian frescoes, forces us to reject this hypothesis, however.
Techniques offer more lasting and reliable criteria than style, susceptible as the latter
is to changes in fashion. The faces are painted on a solid dark-green layer with several
successive layers of lighter paint standing out in contrast. Widely used in Byzantine
art, this technique was extremely seldom encountered in Georgia before the early 14th
century. Also in keeping with the Byzantine tradition, the lights and shades in the
clothes are represented in three grades of intensity, as against the Georgian one or
two6.
The style presents even greater differences. The overall colour scheme is striking,
with the glowing colours of the figures standing out against the bright blue
background. Georgian frescoes of the early 13th century are rather restrained in
colour. In their search for general harmony, Georgian painters gave up the Byzantine
"figure-background" contrast. For instance, they preferred the decorative convention
of blues and whites for the ground in their 11th-13th century works to the bright
green of "The Communion of the Apostles" in Akhtala, which Georgians would have
deemed too naturalistic.
Unlike his Georgian colleagues of the early 13th century, with whom exquisite
beauty and harmony reigned supreme, the Chief Master of Akhtala sought dramatic
tension above all. He deliberately broke the architectonics in the tier arrangement to
exaggerate the upper part of the apse. The monumental figures are dynamically
arranged, with affected gestures and a distortion of their natural proportions. They
have the effect of a high relief, with heavy, voluminous shapes. The sumptuous vest-
ments stream down in gorgeous, somewhat exaggerated draperies. The highlights in
the faces are often painted directly on the basic dark-green layer. The dramatic effect
of the contrast is increased by dark shadows, some doubling the white lights.
Drama goes hand in hand with a decorative quality. Every shape is its element, the
vestments forming patterns with their parallel or fan-like folds, and every detail
conventionalised. The lights, treated as line contours, have a pronounced decorative
purpose at the expense of symbolism. The shadows on the faces have a geometrical
precision. Every spiral lock emphasises the ornamental quality of the hair.
The frescoes abound in rhythmic repetitions. A wrinkle on the forehead may echo
a fold of the neck to produce the effect of pulsating shapes of similar forms in varied
sizes. With a rich set of conventionalised expressive means, the artist portrays the
heavenly liturgy as a sumptuous otherworldly ceremony. His search for the utmost
expressive power in the outer form goes together with a refined spirituality. The
resultant impression is of superhuman tension and concentrated force.
^ This observation belongs to T.S. Shevyakova, who has spent many years copying Georgian
murals. The techniques of the Akhtala altar murals are thoroughly different, in her view, from those
accepted in Georgia.