DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0434
CHAPTER TWO. THE ICONOGRAPHIC PROGRAMME | 431
174 Djuric V. New Joshua Ц Zograf, 14
(1983), pp. 5-15. - In Serbian.
175 See Thierry N. Une image du tri-
omphe imperial dans une eglise de
Cappadoce, L’eglise de Nicephore Pho-
cas a Cavusin // Bulletin de la Societe
nationale des antiquaires de France.
Paris, 1985, pp. 28-35, 33.
176 See. Connor C.L The Joshua Fres-
co at Hosios Loukas //Tenth Annual
Byzantine Conference. Abstracts of
papers, Cincinnati, 1984, pp. 57-59.
For a reproduction and description of
the fresco, and detailed bibliography,
see Skawron, Middle Byzantine Fresco,
pp. 42-43, p. 154.
177 See Aladashvili N.A., Alibegashvi-
li C.V. and Volskaya A.I. The Painting
School of Svaneti, Tbilisi, 1983, pp.
47-49. - In Russian.
scene was set alongside St George on a horseback crushing the emper-
or Diocletian177.
In this connection we may recall that Ivane Mkhargrdzeli, the do-
nor of the monastery, was a military leader in the Georgian kingdom
and at the time that the murals were being painted he and his brother
Zakare won a number of brilliant battles against their Muslim over-
lords. The use of this rare symbolic image in the Akhtala iconographic
programme may have been a reflection of a real historical situation.
The patron of the murals saw himself as trying to be a new Joshua who,
with divine aid, defeated the infidels.
There is one extremely rare and distinctive feature of the «Joshua
before the Archangel Michael»: the depiction of the church above the
now non-existent figure of Joshua. The possibility of such an image
was provide by the Old Testament text where the heavenly messenger
told the commander «Loose thy shoes from off thy foot; for the place
whereon thou standest is holy,» (Joshua 5:15). The place where Joshua
met the messenger became the prototype of the sanctuary in which he
and others would meet with God. This interpretation is directly linked
to the next story from the book of Joshua (6:1-19). The Jewish army
captured Jericho without a battle by conducting a service of worship:
a procession carrying the Ark of the Covenant accompanied by seven
trumpeting priests circled the city seven times and the «walls fell down
flat». In the Akhtala composition the theo-
logical meaning of the image of the church is
quite understandable: only with the aid of the
Church and by celebrating the liturgy before
battle would the. righteous commander be vic-
torious.
The appearance of such an unusual detail
in the Akhtala murals, in our view, might well
have a foundation in contemporary historical
events. Not long before the murals were paint-
ed a major controversy arose in the religious life
of the Caucasus: was it permissible for the Ar-
menian Monophysites to use a «field church»
during their lengthy military campaigns or
not?» The Georgians accused the Armenians of
having no field churches», recounted Kuirakos
174 Djuric V. New Joshua Ц Zograf, 14
(1983), pp. 5-15. - In Serbian.
175 See Thierry N. Une image du tri-
omphe imperial dans une eglise de
Cappadoce, L’eglise de Nicephore Pho-
cas a Cavusin // Bulletin de la Societe
nationale des antiquaires de France.
Paris, 1985, pp. 28-35, 33.
176 See. Connor C.L The Joshua Fres-
co at Hosios Loukas //Tenth Annual
Byzantine Conference. Abstracts of
papers, Cincinnati, 1984, pp. 57-59.
For a reproduction and description of
the fresco, and detailed bibliography,
see Skawron, Middle Byzantine Fresco,
pp. 42-43, p. 154.
177 See Aladashvili N.A., Alibegashvi-
li C.V. and Volskaya A.I. The Painting
School of Svaneti, Tbilisi, 1983, pp.
47-49. - In Russian.
scene was set alongside St George on a horseback crushing the emper-
or Diocletian177.
In this connection we may recall that Ivane Mkhargrdzeli, the do-
nor of the monastery, was a military leader in the Georgian kingdom
and at the time that the murals were being painted he and his brother
Zakare won a number of brilliant battles against their Muslim over-
lords. The use of this rare symbolic image in the Akhtala iconographic
programme may have been a reflection of a real historical situation.
The patron of the murals saw himself as trying to be a new Joshua who,
with divine aid, defeated the infidels.
There is one extremely rare and distinctive feature of the «Joshua
before the Archangel Michael»: the depiction of the church above the
now non-existent figure of Joshua. The possibility of such an image
was provide by the Old Testament text where the heavenly messenger
told the commander «Loose thy shoes from off thy foot; for the place
whereon thou standest is holy,» (Joshua 5:15). The place where Joshua
met the messenger became the prototype of the sanctuary in which he
and others would meet with God. This interpretation is directly linked
to the next story from the book of Joshua (6:1-19). The Jewish army
captured Jericho without a battle by conducting a service of worship:
a procession carrying the Ark of the Covenant accompanied by seven
trumpeting priests circled the city seven times and the «walls fell down
flat». In the Akhtala composition the theo-
logical meaning of the image of the church is
quite understandable: only with the aid of the
Church and by celebrating the liturgy before
battle would the. righteous commander be vic-
torious.
The appearance of such an unusual detail
in the Akhtala murals, in our view, might well
have a foundation in contemporary historical
events. Not long before the murals were paint-
ed a major controversy arose in the religious life
of the Caucasus: was it permissible for the Ar-
menian Monophysites to use a «field church»
during their lengthy military campaigns or
not?» The Georgians accused the Armenians of
having no field churches», recounted Kuirakos