DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0352
CHAPTER ONE. THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND DATING OF THE WALL PAINTINGS | 349
the paintings. The mediaeval historian mentions twice that Ivane took
Plindzahank «from the Armenians and turned it into a Georgian mon-
astery». During the lifetime of Zakare (d. 1213) this could only have
happened under some special historical circumstances: he would not
otherwise have refused the Armenian Church his constant patronage.
There is only one such occasion mentioned by the historical sourc-
es. In 1205, after the Church council in Lori, Zakare had a very seri-
ous quarrel with the conservative part of the Armenian clergy who
refused to accept certain innovations aimed at bringing the Armenian
and Georgian religious rites closer together97. The result was the ban-
ishing of a number of recalcitrant churchmen and the emergence of
a real threat of Zakare’s conversation to the Chalcedonian Creed. The
conservative clergy, we may note, were led by the Bishop of Haghbat,
a large monastery to which Monophysite Plindzahank was immedi-
ately subordinate. Only the desire to punish the disobedient monks
could explain Zakare’s consent to Plindzahank being handed over to
the Chalcedonians.
The transfer of the monastery, the building of the main church and
the painting of the frescoes can all be dated fairly exactly to shortly
after 1205. Since Ivane Mkhargrdzeli possibly changed the monastery’s
confessional allegiance after his elder brother’s death in 1213 we can
date the paintings to between 1205 and 1216.
the paintings. The mediaeval historian mentions twice that Ivane took
Plindzahank «from the Armenians and turned it into a Georgian mon-
astery». During the lifetime of Zakare (d. 1213) this could only have
happened under some special historical circumstances: he would not
otherwise have refused the Armenian Church his constant patronage.
There is only one such occasion mentioned by the historical sourc-
es. In 1205, after the Church council in Lori, Zakare had a very seri-
ous quarrel with the conservative part of the Armenian clergy who
refused to accept certain innovations aimed at bringing the Armenian
and Georgian religious rites closer together97. The result was the ban-
ishing of a number of recalcitrant churchmen and the emergence of
a real threat of Zakare’s conversation to the Chalcedonian Creed. The
conservative clergy, we may note, were led by the Bishop of Haghbat,
a large monastery to which Monophysite Plindzahank was immedi-
ately subordinate. Only the desire to punish the disobedient monks
could explain Zakare’s consent to Plindzahank being handed over to
the Chalcedonians.
The transfer of the monastery, the building of the main church and
the painting of the frescoes can all be dated fairly exactly to shortly
after 1205. Since Ivane Mkhargrdzeli possibly changed the monastery’s
confessional allegiance after his elder brother’s death in 1213 we can
date the paintings to between 1205 and 1216.