DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0415
412 I THE WALL PAINTINGS OF AKHTALA MONASTERY
The emphasis attached to the depiction of St Daniel the Stylite in the
centre of the south wall can also be explained by referring to the es-
pecial reverence of this saint in the Christian Caucasus. In the early
20th century Professor Kekelidze published excerpts from a Georgian
life of the saint which mentioned his influence on events in Georgian
history133.
In the Akhtala murals the theme of the stylites was developed in
four further depictions of such saints on the window jambs of the
south wall. The series began with St Symeon the Elder (feast day, 1 Sep-
tember). The saint is depicted in a koukoulion which distinguishes him
from the other stylites on the south wall and undoubtedly points to his
special status as the first stylite saint. To the left of his figure there is
a large Georgian inscription in asomtavruli, «SMN ARKIMNDRITI»
(Symeon the Archimandrite). Beneath this is an additional Georgian
inscription in small letters reading «of Aleppo» so as to explain which
of the two stylites of this name was depicted here. The inscription re-
minded its readers of the monastery of St Symeon the Elder, located
between the Syrian towns of Antioch and Aleppo, which was a famous
holy site throughout the Christian world.
Opposite Symeon in the eastern window of the south wall is shown
St Alipios (feast day, 26 November) who was the last of the great stylites
to be depicted here. Like the other saints of this series in the windows
of the south wall he is shown on the summit of a pillar with an elegant
rail surmounting a decorative capital. The dark brown mantle and the
hands opened in front of his breast are also common to all the stylites
depicted on the south wall.
If the preceding saints are among those most widely depicted in
Eastern Christian art the two portraits in the western window jambs
are extremely rare. St Benedict of Nursia (feast day, 14 March) is shown
as a stylite although he never practised this form of asceticism. Evi-
dently this was how the author of the iconographic programme strove
to emphasise the holiness and especial merits of the founder of Western
monasticism. The introduction of Benedict,
133 Kekelidze K.S. Studies on the His-
tory of Ancient Georgian literature. Vol.
XII.Tbilisi, 1973, pp. 187-98.
134 See Lexikon der christlichen Iko-
nographie. Bd. 1-8. Freiburg im Breis-
gau, 1968-1980, col. 413.
a saint canonised both by the Catholic and the
Orthodox churches, in this rare and unusual
interpretation may be explained as part of that
desire to stress the unity of the Christian con-
fessions: its importance in the iconographic
The emphasis attached to the depiction of St Daniel the Stylite in the
centre of the south wall can also be explained by referring to the es-
pecial reverence of this saint in the Christian Caucasus. In the early
20th century Professor Kekelidze published excerpts from a Georgian
life of the saint which mentioned his influence on events in Georgian
history133.
In the Akhtala murals the theme of the stylites was developed in
four further depictions of such saints on the window jambs of the
south wall. The series began with St Symeon the Elder (feast day, 1 Sep-
tember). The saint is depicted in a koukoulion which distinguishes him
from the other stylites on the south wall and undoubtedly points to his
special status as the first stylite saint. To the left of his figure there is
a large Georgian inscription in asomtavruli, «SMN ARKIMNDRITI»
(Symeon the Archimandrite). Beneath this is an additional Georgian
inscription in small letters reading «of Aleppo» so as to explain which
of the two stylites of this name was depicted here. The inscription re-
minded its readers of the monastery of St Symeon the Elder, located
between the Syrian towns of Antioch and Aleppo, which was a famous
holy site throughout the Christian world.
Opposite Symeon in the eastern window of the south wall is shown
St Alipios (feast day, 26 November) who was the last of the great stylites
to be depicted here. Like the other saints of this series in the windows
of the south wall he is shown on the summit of a pillar with an elegant
rail surmounting a decorative capital. The dark brown mantle and the
hands opened in front of his breast are also common to all the stylites
depicted on the south wall.
If the preceding saints are among those most widely depicted in
Eastern Christian art the two portraits in the western window jambs
are extremely rare. St Benedict of Nursia (feast day, 14 March) is shown
as a stylite although he never practised this form of asceticism. Evi-
dently this was how the author of the iconographic programme strove
to emphasise the holiness and especial merits of the founder of Western
monasticism. The introduction of Benedict,
133 Kekelidze K.S. Studies on the His-
tory of Ancient Georgian literature. Vol.
XII.Tbilisi, 1973, pp. 187-98.
134 See Lexikon der christlichen Iko-
nographie. Bd. 1-8. Freiburg im Breis-
gau, 1968-1980, col. 413.
a saint canonised both by the Catholic and the
Orthodox churches, in this rare and unusual
interpretation may be explained as part of that
desire to stress the unity of the Christian con-
fessions: its importance in the iconographic