DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0429
426 I THE WALL PAINTINGS OF AKHTALA MONASTERY
famous cycle of the Prophet comes from the diaconicon of the church
in Moraca (c. 1252) which was painted almost half a century later. The
three subjects chosen in Akhtala from numerous scenes of Elijah’s life
are linked by a particular conception. The two outer compositions, the
first and the third, are united by the theme of divine fire: that descend-
ed on the true altar erected by Elijah on Mount Carmel and that which
surrounding the chariot coming to take him to heaven. The image of
the transforming flame enables us to uncover the liturgical contents
of these two depictions. The sacrifice prepared and consecrated with
fire is compared to the coming fiery ascension and attainment of life
everlasting.
The Eucharistic meaning is expressed with especial directness in
the central scene where the angel brings bread to «Elijah in the Wil-
derness». This scene coincided in its main idea with the composition
«Elijah fed by a raven in the wilderness» (3 Kings 17:2-6). Sometimes
the latter appeared in the iconographic programmes of altar apses as
a prototype of the communion (for example, in the murals of Nered-
itsa or the 13^-century Georgian church of Tevdoretsminda). We can
find an original contamination of the two scenes in the 13th-century
Russian icon where Elijah is depicted in the centre without either raven
or angel and both episodes are missing in the hagiographical marginal
scenes166. There is an element of such contamination in the Akhtala
composition where Elijah is shown sitting, not lying down, as in the
scene «Feeding by a raven» (in cycles where both subjects are employed
the pose of the prophet becomes an important distinguishing feature).
The choice of the rarer variant of this theme in Akhtala was evidently
linked to a desire not to disrupt the chronol-
ogy of events. Its main task, however, was to
create a symbolic image of the liturgy. The
three scenes from the Elijah cycle were intend-
ed to be seen as the Old Testament prototypes
of the preparation and transubstantiation of
the sacrifice, of communion and participation
in the life eternal.
No less important for the compiler of the
Akhtala Elijah cycle was the idea of theoph-
any. All three compositions recall divine ap-
pearances to the prophet and emphasise the
166See LazarevVN. Russian Icon Paint-
ing. Moscow, 1983, No. 68.
167 The theme of Theophany, as con-
nected with the Elijah cycles, received
a detailed study in Mijovic, Theophany
in painting Morace, pp. 182-193.
168 Ibid., pp. 190-191. As Mijovic as-
sumes, the paintings of the Moraca al-
tar included a John the Baptist cycle,
parallel to the Elijah the Prophet cycle
in the diaconicon.
169 See Sabinin M. Full hagiography of
the Georgian church. Parts 1-11. St. Pe-
tersburg, 1871-1872, p. 109. - in Rus-
sian, see Bibliography,
famous cycle of the Prophet comes from the diaconicon of the church
in Moraca (c. 1252) which was painted almost half a century later. The
three subjects chosen in Akhtala from numerous scenes of Elijah’s life
are linked by a particular conception. The two outer compositions, the
first and the third, are united by the theme of divine fire: that descend-
ed on the true altar erected by Elijah on Mount Carmel and that which
surrounding the chariot coming to take him to heaven. The image of
the transforming flame enables us to uncover the liturgical contents
of these two depictions. The sacrifice prepared and consecrated with
fire is compared to the coming fiery ascension and attainment of life
everlasting.
The Eucharistic meaning is expressed with especial directness in
the central scene where the angel brings bread to «Elijah in the Wil-
derness». This scene coincided in its main idea with the composition
«Elijah fed by a raven in the wilderness» (3 Kings 17:2-6). Sometimes
the latter appeared in the iconographic programmes of altar apses as
a prototype of the communion (for example, in the murals of Nered-
itsa or the 13^-century Georgian church of Tevdoretsminda). We can
find an original contamination of the two scenes in the 13th-century
Russian icon where Elijah is depicted in the centre without either raven
or angel and both episodes are missing in the hagiographical marginal
scenes166. There is an element of such contamination in the Akhtala
composition where Elijah is shown sitting, not lying down, as in the
scene «Feeding by a raven» (in cycles where both subjects are employed
the pose of the prophet becomes an important distinguishing feature).
The choice of the rarer variant of this theme in Akhtala was evidently
linked to a desire not to disrupt the chronol-
ogy of events. Its main task, however, was to
create a symbolic image of the liturgy. The
three scenes from the Elijah cycle were intend-
ed to be seen as the Old Testament prototypes
of the preparation and transubstantiation of
the sacrifice, of communion and participation
in the life eternal.
No less important for the compiler of the
Akhtala Elijah cycle was the idea of theoph-
any. All three compositions recall divine ap-
pearances to the prophet and emphasise the
166See LazarevVN. Russian Icon Paint-
ing. Moscow, 1983, No. 68.
167 The theme of Theophany, as con-
nected with the Elijah cycles, received
a detailed study in Mijovic, Theophany
in painting Morace, pp. 182-193.
168 Ibid., pp. 190-191. As Mijovic as-
sumes, the paintings of the Moraca al-
tar included a John the Baptist cycle,
parallel to the Elijah the Prophet cycle
in the diaconicon.
169 See Sabinin M. Full hagiography of
the Georgian church. Parts 1-11. St. Pe-
tersburg, 1871-1872, p. 109. - in Rus-
sian, see Bibliography,