DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0442
CHAPTER TWO. THE ICONOGRAPHIC PROGRAMME | 439
any of the «Baptism» and the Transfiguration» but also with scenes of the
Second Coming which present an image of the final theophany. While
evoking clear associations with liturgical texts, theophany is combined
with the theme of salvation. The latter in this part of the iconographic
programme is extended by the donor’s idea of divine patronage of the
righteous Christian forces. In terms of symbolic topography the murals
in the south-west compartment of the church in Akhtala gathered to-
gether the subjects that are usually located in the narthex, diaconicon
and prothesis in Byzantine churches. This to a great extent determined
the unusual and complex conception of the compartment’s iconographic
programme which we have described and analysed here.
* * *
Our examination of the Akhtala paintings permits us to draw certain
general conclusions. Overall the iconographic programme followed
the middle Byzantine system of church decoration which had taken
shape by the Ifih century. Individual features indicate the influence of
the Georgian tradition and these are most noticeable in the treatment
of the domed space decoration and in the composition of the west wall:
the triumphal inscriptions on the arches, the depiction of the Evan-
gelists in the pendentives and the interpretation of the «Last Judge-
ment». However, an abundance of rare liturgical motifs distinguish the
Akhtala murals from contemporary Georgian monuments. This points
to a close tie between the Akhtala iconographic programme and Byz-
antine art from the turn of the 13th century when a heightened interest
was taken in liturgical subject. Rare iconographic motifs gave specific
and enriched meaning to the main themes of the Incarnation, Redemp-
tion and Resurrection. They emphasized that it was through the liturgy
that the history of salvation shown on the walls of the church became
196 The confessional interpretation of this inscription is well illustrated by the Armenian Chalce-
donian Gospel of 1313 (Ryland Library, Manchester), in which the Armenian text is accompanied
by Georgian-inscribed images. See Marr N.Ya. An illustrated manuscript of the Armenian Chalce-
donians//Proceedings of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Vol. V,№ 12 (1911), pp. 12,91 & 301
(in Russian); Talbot-Rice D. The Illuminations of Armenian Manuscript 10 in John Rylands Library
// Bulletin of John Rylands Library, 43, N 2 (1961), pp. 452-8; Der Nersessian S. Etudes byzantines
et armeniennes. Vol. 1-2. Louvain, 1973, pp. 661-663.
any of the «Baptism» and the Transfiguration» but also with scenes of the
Second Coming which present an image of the final theophany. While
evoking clear associations with liturgical texts, theophany is combined
with the theme of salvation. The latter in this part of the iconographic
programme is extended by the donor’s idea of divine patronage of the
righteous Christian forces. In terms of symbolic topography the murals
in the south-west compartment of the church in Akhtala gathered to-
gether the subjects that are usually located in the narthex, diaconicon
and prothesis in Byzantine churches. This to a great extent determined
the unusual and complex conception of the compartment’s iconographic
programme which we have described and analysed here.
* * *
Our examination of the Akhtala paintings permits us to draw certain
general conclusions. Overall the iconographic programme followed
the middle Byzantine system of church decoration which had taken
shape by the Ifih century. Individual features indicate the influence of
the Georgian tradition and these are most noticeable in the treatment
of the domed space decoration and in the composition of the west wall:
the triumphal inscriptions on the arches, the depiction of the Evan-
gelists in the pendentives and the interpretation of the «Last Judge-
ment». However, an abundance of rare liturgical motifs distinguish the
Akhtala murals from contemporary Georgian monuments. This points
to a close tie between the Akhtala iconographic programme and Byz-
antine art from the turn of the 13th century when a heightened interest
was taken in liturgical subject. Rare iconographic motifs gave specific
and enriched meaning to the main themes of the Incarnation, Redemp-
tion and Resurrection. They emphasized that it was through the liturgy
that the history of salvation shown on the walls of the church became
196 The confessional interpretation of this inscription is well illustrated by the Armenian Chalce-
donian Gospel of 1313 (Ryland Library, Manchester), in which the Armenian text is accompanied
by Georgian-inscribed images. See Marr N.Ya. An illustrated manuscript of the Armenian Chalce-
donians//Proceedings of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Vol. V,№ 12 (1911), pp. 12,91 & 301
(in Russian); Talbot-Rice D. The Illuminations of Armenian Manuscript 10 in John Rylands Library
// Bulletin of John Rylands Library, 43, N 2 (1961), pp. 452-8; Der Nersessian S. Etudes byzantines
et armeniennes. Vol. 1-2. Louvain, 1973, pp. 661-663.