DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0375
3T2. | THE WALL PAINTINGS OF AKHTALA MONASTERY
the holy bishops participating in the liturgy. An earthly bishop sits on
the synthronon with its image of the Virgin Grant, thereby providing
a visual image of Christ the high priest celebrating the liturgy in the
Celestial Church49. 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 sacra-
ments on His «altar in heaven above».
49 The comparison of a bishop on the
synthronon with Christ is often met
in Byzantine liturgical commentaries.
See, for instance, Migne’s edition, PG,
1.155, col. 721.
50This half-obliterated inscription was
deciphered by FV Shelov-Kovedyaev, to
whom I am very grateful.
51 The character of the inscription
does not allow us to assume that John
was the artist’s name.
The symbolism of the synthronon enables us to understand why
it is here, directly over the niche, that we find the Greek inscription
«..BOH0E TO AOYAO SON HOANN...», which is reconstructed to:
«...BOH0E T0I AOYAQI EOY IflANNOL..» i.e. «... help thy servant
Ioann...»50 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 monastery51.
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 ei-
ther 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.
The theme of the Church and the Liturgy is stressed in all the four
tiers of the sanctuary frescoes. One below the other we see depictions
of the throne, the ciborium, the creators of the
liturgy and the synthronon and all are given
original interpretations. Together they form
a central axis around which the monograph-
ic programme of the sanctuary paintings
revolve. Unusual iconographic motifs were
systematically introduced into a quite tradi-
tional system of images. These were in tune
with the new tendencies in Byzantine art of
the holy bishops participating in the liturgy. An earthly bishop sits on
the synthronon with its image of the Virgin Grant, thereby providing
a visual image of Christ the high priest celebrating the liturgy in the
Celestial Church49. 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 sacra-
ments on His «altar in heaven above».
49 The comparison of a bishop on the
synthronon with Christ is often met
in Byzantine liturgical commentaries.
See, for instance, Migne’s edition, PG,
1.155, col. 721.
50This half-obliterated inscription was
deciphered by FV Shelov-Kovedyaev, to
whom I am very grateful.
51 The character of the inscription
does not allow us to assume that John
was the artist’s name.
The symbolism of the synthronon enables us to understand why
it is here, directly over the niche, that we find the Greek inscription
«..BOH0E TO AOYAO SON HOANN...», which is reconstructed to:
«...BOH0E T0I AOYAQI EOY IflANNOL..» i.e. «... help thy servant
Ioann...»50 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 monastery51.
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 ei-
ther 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.
The theme of the Church and the Liturgy is stressed in all the four
tiers of the sanctuary frescoes. One below the other we see depictions
of the throne, the ciborium, the creators of the
liturgy and the synthronon and all are given
original interpretations. Together they form
a central axis around which the monograph-
ic programme of the sanctuary paintings
revolve. Unusual iconographic motifs were
systematically introduced into a quite tradi-
tional system of images. These were in tune
with the new tendencies in Byzantine art of