DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0401
398 | THE WALL PAINTINGS OF AKHTALA MONASTERY
The «Incredulity of Thomas» therefore formed part of special Byzantine
cycles which expressed the idea of Christ’s transmission of his priesthood
to the apostles101 102 103.
Christ in the «Descent into Hell» is shown between the tomb or pro-
to-altar and the house or proto-church. The sources of the liturgy are re-
vealed through the theme of resurrection. In each scene the hill of Gol-
gotha, the cross in the Lord’s hand and the showing of His wounds all
recall the Crucifixion. The Redemption and the Resurrection are insepara-
ble in the history of mankind’s salvation which is repeated each day in the
liturgy. This unity is declared in the hymn sung during communion. There
the resurrection is organically linked with the Mother of God and the New
Jerusalem, two themes of great importance for the Akhtala murals:
Ever blessing the 'Lord, let us sing His Resurrection: for in that He
endured the Crucifixion, He hath destroyed death by death. Shine, Shine,
О JSew Jerusalem! for the glory of the 'Lord is risen upon thee; exult now
and rejoice, О Zion! and Thou, 0 Ture Tirth-giver of (jod, be Thou
adorned in the Resurrection of Him TVhom Thou didst bear!
This ancient hymn is sung at the end of the liturgy and, in our view,
provides the key to understanding the Virgin cycle and the Christolog-
ical cycle of murals at Akhtala since they form an interrelated whole in
the iconographic programme.
In analysing how the themes of the Christological cycle are located
throughout the church, we cannot help noticing the deliberate oppo-
101 See Todic B. The oldest murals of St. Apostles church in Pec//Zbornikza likovne umetnosti,
18 (1982), pp. 35-37 - In Serbian.
102 The Monophysite iconographic programme of the 10th-century murals of Aghtamar presents
a typologically close type, with Resurrection scenes graphically prevailing in number over the
Passions. See Thierry N. The cycle of the passions and Christ resurrection from Akhtamar// Fourth
International Symposium on Armenian art. Abstracts. Yerevan, 1985, pp. 271-272.
103 Perhaps two scenes of the Passion cycle owed their appearance on the west facade of
the Church of Tigran Honents in Ani to the desire to accentuate the human nature of Christ
and thus point out that this was a Chalcedonian church. The compositions «Descent from
the Cross» and «Lamentation», arranged directly above the entrance, to both sides of the
central window, are emphasised by a decorative arch. Below the window, between them, is the
Mandylion, which symbolizes the reality of incarnation. We cannot rule out that the author of
the iconographic programme of the Armenian Chalcedonian murals of Kirants was guided by
a similar concept. The lower part of the drum portrays a sequence of Old Testament scenes,
unique of its kind, which may be interpreted as prototypes of the Mother of God and directly
linked to the Incarnation theme.
The «Incredulity of Thomas» therefore formed part of special Byzantine
cycles which expressed the idea of Christ’s transmission of his priesthood
to the apostles101 102 103.
Christ in the «Descent into Hell» is shown between the tomb or pro-
to-altar and the house or proto-church. The sources of the liturgy are re-
vealed through the theme of resurrection. In each scene the hill of Gol-
gotha, the cross in the Lord’s hand and the showing of His wounds all
recall the Crucifixion. The Redemption and the Resurrection are insepara-
ble in the history of mankind’s salvation which is repeated each day in the
liturgy. This unity is declared in the hymn sung during communion. There
the resurrection is organically linked with the Mother of God and the New
Jerusalem, two themes of great importance for the Akhtala murals:
Ever blessing the 'Lord, let us sing His Resurrection: for in that He
endured the Crucifixion, He hath destroyed death by death. Shine, Shine,
О JSew Jerusalem! for the glory of the 'Lord is risen upon thee; exult now
and rejoice, О Zion! and Thou, 0 Ture Tirth-giver of (jod, be Thou
adorned in the Resurrection of Him TVhom Thou didst bear!
This ancient hymn is sung at the end of the liturgy and, in our view,
provides the key to understanding the Virgin cycle and the Christolog-
ical cycle of murals at Akhtala since they form an interrelated whole in
the iconographic programme.
In analysing how the themes of the Christological cycle are located
throughout the church, we cannot help noticing the deliberate oppo-
101 See Todic B. The oldest murals of St. Apostles church in Pec//Zbornikza likovne umetnosti,
18 (1982), pp. 35-37 - In Serbian.
102 The Monophysite iconographic programme of the 10th-century murals of Aghtamar presents
a typologically close type, with Resurrection scenes graphically prevailing in number over the
Passions. See Thierry N. The cycle of the passions and Christ resurrection from Akhtamar// Fourth
International Symposium on Armenian art. Abstracts. Yerevan, 1985, pp. 271-272.
103 Perhaps two scenes of the Passion cycle owed their appearance on the west facade of
the Church of Tigran Honents in Ani to the desire to accentuate the human nature of Christ
and thus point out that this was a Chalcedonian church. The compositions «Descent from
the Cross» and «Lamentation», arranged directly above the entrance, to both sides of the
central window, are emphasised by a decorative arch. Below the window, between them, is the
Mandylion, which symbolizes the reality of incarnation. We cannot rule out that the author of
the iconographic programme of the Armenian Chalcedonian murals of Kirants was guided by
a similar concept. The lower part of the drum portrays a sequence of Old Testament scenes,
unique of its kind, which may be interpreted as prototypes of the Mother of God and directly
linked to the Incarnation theme.