DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0333
330 | THE WALL PAINTINGS OF AKHTALA MONASTERY
cedonians27. At present there are two suggested dates for the paintings.
In the view of Alexander Kakovkin they appeared in the 1210s to early
1220s, while the frescoes of the porch and chapel were painted in the
1220s or early 1230s, before the town was sacked by the Mongols in
123628. Muradian dates the handing over of the church to the Chalce-
donians and the painting of the frescoes to the 1250s29. It remains an
open question who was the donor (ktetor) of the paintings: he is de-
picted by the entrance holding out a model of the church to St Gregory
of Armenia. We believe he was Shahanshah Zakharid who ruled Ani
during the period when the church was built. Unlike his vassal Tigran
Honents, he was a Chalcedonian and only his decision could change
the church’s confession. That the Shahanshah took part in the renova-
tion of the church can be seen clearly from the short and unambiguous
inscription of 1251 on the east facade: «This holy church was erected in
the reign of Atabek Amirspasalar Shahanshah.»
In the Kobair Monastery the wall paintings have survived in the
large and small churches which are linked by a common porch30 31 32. They
were painted after the Shahanshah’s wife handed the Monophysite
monastery over to the Chalcedonians. Judging by the historical cir-
cumstances this could not have happened before the 1220s. The up-
per chronological limit should be regarded as 1282, when the porch
of the two churches was painted on the orders of the monk Gregory.
As a study of depictions of the donor have shown, the paintings in the
27 About the paintings see: Thierry N. The Paintings of the St. Church of Tigran Honents in Ani
(1215) // lie symposium Internationale sur L’art georgien, Tbilisi, 1977, pp. 1-16; Kakovkin A.Y.
The Paintings of the St. Church of Tigran Honents (1215) in Ani: concept and iconographic pro-
gram // Bulletin of Yerevan University. Social Sciences, 1983, No. 2, pp. 106-114,- In Russian,
see Bibliography.
28 Kakovkin A.Y. On the Dating of the the paintings of the St. Gregory Church (1215) in Ani, Its
Chapel and Porch // Byzantine Chronicle, 48 (1987), pp. 108-115.- In Russian, see Bibliography.
29 Muradian P.M. On the Confessional... pp. 54, 56.
30 See: Drampian I.R. The Frescoes of Kobair, Yerevan, 1979; Drampian I.R. On the dating and in-
terpretation of the Kobayr frescoes//Caucasus and Byzantium, 4 (1984), pp. 194-217 (in Russian,
see Bibliography); Thierry N. Les peintures de la cathedrale de Kobayr // Cahiers Archeologiques,
29 (1980-1981), p. 103-121; Thierry N. A propos des peintures de la grand eglise de Kobayr.//
Revue des etudes georgiennes et caucasiennes, 2 (1986), pp. 223-226.
31 See: Drampian I.R. Frescoes... p. 12.
32 Neresesian L.B. Kiranc - the cultural monument of the Chalcedonian Armenians // Monu-
ment in a cultural context. Moscow, 1989. - In Russian, see Bibliography. About the paintings see:
Thierry N. A propos de I’eglise de Kiranc. Rapport preliminaire // Bedi Kartlisa. XLI (1983), pp. 194-
228; Frescoes of the Kiranc monastery. Materials from the archive of L.A. Durnovo. Yerevan, 1990.
cedonians27. At present there are two suggested dates for the paintings.
In the view of Alexander Kakovkin they appeared in the 1210s to early
1220s, while the frescoes of the porch and chapel were painted in the
1220s or early 1230s, before the town was sacked by the Mongols in
123628. Muradian dates the handing over of the church to the Chalce-
donians and the painting of the frescoes to the 1250s29. It remains an
open question who was the donor (ktetor) of the paintings: he is de-
picted by the entrance holding out a model of the church to St Gregory
of Armenia. We believe he was Shahanshah Zakharid who ruled Ani
during the period when the church was built. Unlike his vassal Tigran
Honents, he was a Chalcedonian and only his decision could change
the church’s confession. That the Shahanshah took part in the renova-
tion of the church can be seen clearly from the short and unambiguous
inscription of 1251 on the east facade: «This holy church was erected in
the reign of Atabek Amirspasalar Shahanshah.»
In the Kobair Monastery the wall paintings have survived in the
large and small churches which are linked by a common porch30 31 32. They
were painted after the Shahanshah’s wife handed the Monophysite
monastery over to the Chalcedonians. Judging by the historical cir-
cumstances this could not have happened before the 1220s. The up-
per chronological limit should be regarded as 1282, when the porch
of the two churches was painted on the orders of the monk Gregory.
As a study of depictions of the donor have shown, the paintings in the
27 About the paintings see: Thierry N. The Paintings of the St. Church of Tigran Honents in Ani
(1215) // lie symposium Internationale sur L’art georgien, Tbilisi, 1977, pp. 1-16; Kakovkin A.Y.
The Paintings of the St. Church of Tigran Honents (1215) in Ani: concept and iconographic pro-
gram // Bulletin of Yerevan University. Social Sciences, 1983, No. 2, pp. 106-114,- In Russian,
see Bibliography.
28 Kakovkin A.Y. On the Dating of the the paintings of the St. Gregory Church (1215) in Ani, Its
Chapel and Porch // Byzantine Chronicle, 48 (1987), pp. 108-115.- In Russian, see Bibliography.
29 Muradian P.M. On the Confessional... pp. 54, 56.
30 See: Drampian I.R. The Frescoes of Kobair, Yerevan, 1979; Drampian I.R. On the dating and in-
terpretation of the Kobayr frescoes//Caucasus and Byzantium, 4 (1984), pp. 194-217 (in Russian,
see Bibliography); Thierry N. Les peintures de la cathedrale de Kobayr // Cahiers Archeologiques,
29 (1980-1981), p. 103-121; Thierry N. A propos des peintures de la grand eglise de Kobayr.//
Revue des etudes georgiennes et caucasiennes, 2 (1986), pp. 223-226.
31 See: Drampian I.R. Frescoes... p. 12.
32 Neresesian L.B. Kiranc - the cultural monument of the Chalcedonian Armenians // Monu-
ment in a cultural context. Moscow, 1989. - In Russian, see Bibliography. About the paintings see:
Thierry N. A propos de I’eglise de Kiranc. Rapport preliminaire // Bedi Kartlisa. XLI (1983), pp. 194-
228; Frescoes of the Kiranc monastery. Materials from the archive of L.A. Durnovo. Yerevan, 1990.