DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0383
380 | THE WALL PAINTINGS OF AKHTALA MONASTERY
72 In certain iconographie variants of
this scene, the table at which the
priests are sitting is likened to an altar.
73 Close attention to these themes is
characteristic of the Byzantine Mario-
iogical cycles. One of the oldest exam-
ples is provided by the murals of Castel
Seprio. See Leveto P.D. Marian Theology
behind the Frescoes in Sta. Maria at
Castel Seprio // Eleventh Annual Byz-
antine Studies Conference. Abstracts of
Papers. Toronto, 1985, pp. 12-13.
ings were rejected. There is also a link, through childlessness, with the
first scene of the cycle «Joachim reading the book of the twelve tribes
of Israel». Moreover, here more than in any other scene of this cycle the
idea of the antiquity of the lineage of the Mother of God is expressed, its
history being recorded in the book in question. In the Christian tradi-
tion, as is well known, the idea of the antiquity of Christ’s lineage through
the Virgin acquired particular significance since it enabled his Messianic
royalty to be established as proceeding from King David himself.
The theme of the temple is developed in the third scene of this cycle,
to the extreme right. Here Mary is shown being blessed by the Jewish
priests in a scene that is the first in a series depicting the Mother of
God serving in the church72. We may again recall here that in mediae-
val interpretations, as reflected by liturgical texts, Mary forms the link
between the Temple of the Old Testament and the Church of the New
Covenant: a virgin who grew up in the Jewish temple herself became the
«temple» of Christ, the habitation of the Word made flesh. Apart from
the principal theme of miraculous birth, therefore, two main ideas of
Eastern Mariology find emphasis in the three compositions depicting
the Virgin at Akhtala: the antiquity of the royal lineage of Mary and the
unbroken link between the Virgin and the Temple73. Both themes have
their beginning in the central composition of this cycle.
It is the liturgical nature of the «Rejection of the Offerings», in our view,
that determines the importance given to this scene. Certain expressive
details support the liturgical theme. For instance, Joachim carries in his
arms a lamb for the Old Testament sacrifice: this is unmistakably a sym-
bol of the crucified Christ and the prototype of the liturgical sacrifice.
However, it is the depiction of the Old Testament temple that forms
the most striking and unusual feature of the Akhtala «Rejection of the
Offerings». In the two surviving Georgian
compositions on this theme (the late-llth-cen-
tury murals in Ateni and the early-13th-centu-
ry paintings at Bertubani) the temple is shown
in schematic form, as an altar with a cibori-
um. In the Akhtala fresco the theme is given
a much more complicated treatment: barred
gates, richly decorated ornamentation, the
arch on tall columns with capitals, the em-
phatically outlined figure of the high priest
72 In certain iconographie variants of
this scene, the table at which the
priests are sitting is likened to an altar.
73 Close attention to these themes is
characteristic of the Byzantine Mario-
iogical cycles. One of the oldest exam-
ples is provided by the murals of Castel
Seprio. See Leveto P.D. Marian Theology
behind the Frescoes in Sta. Maria at
Castel Seprio // Eleventh Annual Byz-
antine Studies Conference. Abstracts of
Papers. Toronto, 1985, pp. 12-13.
ings were rejected. There is also a link, through childlessness, with the
first scene of the cycle «Joachim reading the book of the twelve tribes
of Israel». Moreover, here more than in any other scene of this cycle the
idea of the antiquity of the lineage of the Mother of God is expressed, its
history being recorded in the book in question. In the Christian tradi-
tion, as is well known, the idea of the antiquity of Christ’s lineage through
the Virgin acquired particular significance since it enabled his Messianic
royalty to be established as proceeding from King David himself.
The theme of the temple is developed in the third scene of this cycle,
to the extreme right. Here Mary is shown being blessed by the Jewish
priests in a scene that is the first in a series depicting the Mother of
God serving in the church72. We may again recall here that in mediae-
val interpretations, as reflected by liturgical texts, Mary forms the link
between the Temple of the Old Testament and the Church of the New
Covenant: a virgin who grew up in the Jewish temple herself became the
«temple» of Christ, the habitation of the Word made flesh. Apart from
the principal theme of miraculous birth, therefore, two main ideas of
Eastern Mariology find emphasis in the three compositions depicting
the Virgin at Akhtala: the antiquity of the royal lineage of Mary and the
unbroken link between the Virgin and the Temple73. Both themes have
their beginning in the central composition of this cycle.
It is the liturgical nature of the «Rejection of the Offerings», in our view,
that determines the importance given to this scene. Certain expressive
details support the liturgical theme. For instance, Joachim carries in his
arms a lamb for the Old Testament sacrifice: this is unmistakably a sym-
bol of the crucified Christ and the prototype of the liturgical sacrifice.
However, it is the depiction of the Old Testament temple that forms
the most striking and unusual feature of the Akhtala «Rejection of the
Offerings». In the two surviving Georgian
compositions on this theme (the late-llth-cen-
tury murals in Ateni and the early-13th-centu-
ry paintings at Bertubani) the temple is shown
in schematic form, as an altar with a cibori-
um. In the Akhtala fresco the theme is given
a much more complicated treatment: barred
gates, richly decorated ornamentation, the
arch on tall columns with capitals, the em-
phatically outlined figure of the high priest