Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

style of painting, which was developed mainly in Palestine by western artists; and the local tradition of
Byzantine painting.
Finally, after Venetian occupation ended, wall paintings developed in two distinct directions. The wall
paintings of the church of Panagia Podithou follow the Italo-Byzantine school of Cyprus, which combine
classical Byzantine elements with those of the Italian Renaissance. On the other hand the wall paintings of
the church of the Transfiguration of our Saviour reflect the Palaeologian revival in a personal character.
Aleksandra Davidov Temerinski
Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments. Serbia
Eschatology, Ideology, Contextualisation: The Last Judgment in Dečani, Akhtala and Timotesubani
The unique and grandiose cycle of the Last Judgment that decorates the western part of the naos of the
Pantokrator Church, the katolikon of the monastery Dečani in Serbia (app. 1345), finds its closest parallels
in some earlier Georgian churches: Akhtala (1205-1216) and Timotesubani (1205-1215). In this paper I will
try to explain this phenomenon.
Given the vast geographical distance between Serbia and Georgia and the fact that political, trading
or cultural liaisons between these two medieval states did not exist, it is clear that any kind of artistic
“exchange” should have been excluded. The similarity of the Last Judgement images in Dečani, Akhtala
and Timothesubani could be explained as a consequence of the similar ideological context in Serbia and
Georgia at the time when these churches were painted. In none of these three compositions is the didactic or
moral message emphasized, although, generally speaking, that was the most recognizable Last Judgement
feature in the last period of Byzantine art. On the contrary, in both Serbian and Georgian monuments, the
most prominent aspect of the scene is the dogmatic sense of the true, orthodox faith.
The second aim of this paper will be an appeal for reconsidering our knowledge of the Last Judgement
image in Byzantine art and culture. Considering that the compositions were represented in the western
parts of the churches that had most often been ruined or rebuilt, the development and standardisation of the
monumental Last Judgement scenes still represents, at least partly, the terrain of a terra incognita. Our certainty
in establishing its “typical characteristics” still poses various questions which we have yet to answer
with more caution.
Ida Sinkevic
Lafayette College. USA
Fresco Icons in Monumental Art of Georgia and Byzantium: Meaning and Significance
Painted icons, also referred to as fresco icons or even fictive icons, are found in the monumental art of
both Byzantium and the countries within the orbit of its influence. Known since at least the eleventh century,
these painted images of panel icons are either circular or rectangular in shape, displaying holy figures
within realistic frames often topped with a painted hook to imitate the appearance of the actual hanging
icons. In addition to Georgian monuments, we also see fresco icons in the Church of St. Sophia in Ohrid;
the Ossuary of Backovo Monastery; the Monastery of St. Cyril in Kiev; Djurdjevi Stupovi; Nerezi; and the
churches of Mystra. While paucity of evidence precludes the knowledge of their sources, the wide geographic
range of places where they appear, from Macedonia and Serbia, to Russia and Georgia, may suggest
the Byzantine capital, Constantinople, as a tentative but possible place of their origin. The appearance of
fictive icons in Kalenderhane Camii supports this claim.
The presence of fictive icons in church decoration has been most commonly explained as an attempt to
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