DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0432
CHAPTER TWO. THE ICONOGRAPHIC PROGRAMME | 429
mition of the Virgin direct comparisons were made with the prophet:
they had been chosen among human beings for their great virtues and
bodily taken up into heaven171.
It is more difficult to understand the relevance of the «Joshua before
the Archangel Michael» which was a composition of equal dimensions
also on the southern wall of the compartment. The theme of divine
apparition, which plays an important role in the iconographic pro-
gramme of the southwest compartment, is one link between the two
scenes. They could be regarded as an original addition to the great the-
ophanies of the «Baptism» and the «Transfiguration» on the western
face of the vault of the south cross arm. Furthermore, they were united
by a particular type of divine apparition that provided defense: divine
forces protected the couch of The Virgin from the Jews while celestial
warriors came to the aid of Joshua.
The participation of angels is also stressed. They are shown as a host
in the upper corner of the first scene and in the central figure of the
Archistratigos Michael in the second. The «Joshua before the Archan-
gel Michael» is mentioned in the liturgy for the feast of the «Council of
Archistratigos Michael». Both «Joshua before the Archangel Michael»
and the «Council of Archangels» expressed a common symbolic idea
of the glorification of the angelic forces. It is noteworthy that the «Dor-
mition» sometimes included scenes that evoked clear associations with
The «Council of Archangels». In the late 12th-century murals of the
church of the Anargyroi saints in Castoria, for instance, a group of
five frontally facing and standing archangels in imperial garments are
shown to the left of the couch in a depiction of the «Dormition»172.
The Dormition was understood as the triumph of the Virgin who was
praised by the angels. In John of Damascus’ «Word concerning the
Dormition» she is called «highest among the angelic forces»173. Like
the Archangel Michael, the Mother of God was
also considered to direct the heavenly hosts.
Appeals to the archangel alternate with those
to the Virgin in the liturgy of the «Council of
the Archistratrigos Michael».
We may therefore conclude that in the
Akhtala murals the purpose of the «Dormi-
tion» was to show the Mother of God in her
role as «leader of the heavenly forces». Two
170 See Selected Patristic Homilies on
Principal Church Feasts. Moscow, 1874,
p. 66. - In Russian.
171 See Kirpichnikov A.I. The Dormition
of the Virgin in Legends and in Art //
Transactions of the Sixth Archeological
Congress in Odessa. Vol. 2, Odessa,
1888, p. 211. - In Russian.
172 See Malmquist, op. cit., p. 73, pl. 17.
173 See Selected Patristic Homilies, p. 72.
mition of the Virgin direct comparisons were made with the prophet:
they had been chosen among human beings for their great virtues and
bodily taken up into heaven171.
It is more difficult to understand the relevance of the «Joshua before
the Archangel Michael» which was a composition of equal dimensions
also on the southern wall of the compartment. The theme of divine
apparition, which plays an important role in the iconographic pro-
gramme of the southwest compartment, is one link between the two
scenes. They could be regarded as an original addition to the great the-
ophanies of the «Baptism» and the «Transfiguration» on the western
face of the vault of the south cross arm. Furthermore, they were united
by a particular type of divine apparition that provided defense: divine
forces protected the couch of The Virgin from the Jews while celestial
warriors came to the aid of Joshua.
The participation of angels is also stressed. They are shown as a host
in the upper corner of the first scene and in the central figure of the
Archistratigos Michael in the second. The «Joshua before the Archan-
gel Michael» is mentioned in the liturgy for the feast of the «Council of
Archistratigos Michael». Both «Joshua before the Archangel Michael»
and the «Council of Archangels» expressed a common symbolic idea
of the glorification of the angelic forces. It is noteworthy that the «Dor-
mition» sometimes included scenes that evoked clear associations with
The «Council of Archangels». In the late 12th-century murals of the
church of the Anargyroi saints in Castoria, for instance, a group of
five frontally facing and standing archangels in imperial garments are
shown to the left of the couch in a depiction of the «Dormition»172.
The Dormition was understood as the triumph of the Virgin who was
praised by the angels. In John of Damascus’ «Word concerning the
Dormition» she is called «highest among the angelic forces»173. Like
the Archangel Michael, the Mother of God was
also considered to direct the heavenly hosts.
Appeals to the archangel alternate with those
to the Virgin in the liturgy of the «Council of
the Archistratrigos Michael».
We may therefore conclude that in the
Akhtala murals the purpose of the «Dormi-
tion» was to show the Mother of God in her
role as «leader of the heavenly forces». Two
170 See Selected Patristic Homilies on
Principal Church Feasts. Moscow, 1874,
p. 66. - In Russian.
171 See Kirpichnikov A.I. The Dormition
of the Virgin in Legends and in Art //
Transactions of the Sixth Archeological
Congress in Odessa. Vol. 2, Odessa,
1888, p. 211. - In Russian.
172 See Malmquist, op. cit., p. 73, pl. 17.
173 See Selected Patristic Homilies, p. 72.