Some Elements of Antiquity in Representation of Mountains in Georgian Painting of the 12th and 13th Centuries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18688/aa155-2-29Keywords:
mountain, personification, cosmology, georgian medieval fresco paintingAbstract
From the beginning of the 12th century onwards representation of mountains in Byzantine painting became particularly elaborate. The same tendency can be traced in contemporaneous murals of Georgian churches. An attempt has been previously made to consider the latter in the contexts of stylistic change. However, some images can be interpreted wider. The paper focuses on two different types of images: mountain with huge roots as shown in the murals of Ikvi (12th century), and mountain shaped as a human profile as presented in the St. George church at Gelati Monastery (13th century).
The clue to understanding of the first image is provided by the mediaeval cosmological concept: the roots are primary perceived as a cosmological element showing the ‘nature’ of the mountain. Alongside with this example the paper discuses the mountains with wave-like slopes (Pavnisi, Matskvarishi), which are interpreted in the cosmological context as well.
Though the anthropomorphism of the mountain in the scene of the “Ascension of Christ” in the murals of Gelati should be explained by special significance of the Mount Olive itself, it might be also linked to the Neo-Platonic studies of the famous Gelatian philosopher Ioanne Petritsi.
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