Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

Ekaterine Gedevanishvili, Marine Kenia
G. Chubinashvili National Center of Georgian Art History and Monuments Protection. Georgia
The Correlation of the Word and Image in the Medieval Georgian Mural Painting
Along with pictorial language, the idea of holy icons is primarily unveiled by inscriptions, which accompany
such images. The issue surrounding the correlation of the “Word” and “Image” in the medieval art
is continuously being addressed by different foreign scholars (B. Schellewald, L. Brubacker, G. McGuer,
R. Nelson and others). In Georgian scholarship, in addition to analyzing iconography special attention has
been paid to the accompanying explanatory inscriptions of several scenes, as well as to the inscriptions on
the prophet scrolls and triumphal arches, which help to uncover the coalesced theological idea emphasized
by the paintings (T. Virsaladze, A. Volskaia, E. Privalova, I. Lortkifanidze, A. Okropiridze, M Didebulidze,
Z. Skhirtladze and others).
The material of these studies by Georgian scholars and the results of the recent research give rise to the
possibility of making certain classification. According to preliminary conclusions, findings are likely to
determine the following “functional” groups:
• Simple, laconic explanatory inscriptions, unveiling the subject or identity of the image – this is
the most common type, which, on one hand, makes the image recognizable and, on the other, indicates the
mystical connection with the prototype.
• Widespread, narrative explanatory inscriptions, which not only specify the essence of the image,
but also enrich the image with additional details. Among these are so-called “memorial” inscriptions (i.e.
the explanations of martyrdom scenes), which give the narrative extension to the meaning of the image and
rare inscriptions, which we can refer to as “Psychological” ones, which in with their pictorial form grip the
spectator as a participant of the event.
• Inscriptions that emphasize the key highlights of the theological program. To this type belong accompanying
inscriptions of separate images, as well as the liturgical texts included in the ensembles (the
scroll texts of prophets and St. Fathers, the inscription of triumphal arches) – these inscriptions help to
explore the dogmatic-symbolic meaning of the painting.
The chronological constraints of the use of these inscriptions are profound and the rules for their application
are quite diverse: whereas in some cases we have just one “functional” type of the inscriptions, in
other, contemporary cases we observe the simultaneous use of different “functional” groups.
Ori Soltes
Georgetown University. USA
The Art of “The Knight” in its Contexts
The Knight in the Panther’s Skin is typically referred to as Georgia’s national epic poem. This paper
will consider three interwoven issues. The first is how the poem is an epic that fits well into the history
of the Western epic tradition that extends in time and space from the ancient Middle East and the Epic of
Gilgamesh to the Renaissance in Italy and Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, in terms of content and in terms
of style. What are the elements-the imagery, rhythmic patterns, heroic goals, interweave of issues of love
and strife, role of divinity-that define an epic and how does the Georgian poem exhibit those elements?
The second issue is how the poem is uniquely Georgian, reflecting the values and sensibilities of Georgian
culture. What is the nature of the hero - culturally and religiously - and what does he and the questions
raised by his adventure reflect of the socio-religiously diverse world in which the poem was created? Put
otherwise: how does The Knight in the Panther’s Skin reflect the nature of Georgia as a realm of tolerant
synthesis, a place of meeting among diverse cultures and traditions? These two issues will form the basis
for the third, which is to consider the visual imagery that has attached itself to the epic - the illuminations
and illustrations that, given the first two issues addressed in this paper, might be expected to offer a synthesis
of diversely influenced and indigenous elements. How does the imagery that connects to the epic
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