Doctor of Art History
Senior Research Fellow
Tamaz Beradze Institute of Georgian Studies, the University of Georgia
ORCID: 0000-0002-3133-7330
Nino.chikhladze@ug.edu.ge
Nino_chikhladze@yahoo.com

The Cultural and Historical Significance of the XI–XII Century Artistic Decoration of Martvili Church

The Martvili-Chkondidi Monastery is one of the oldest centers of Georgian spiritual and material culture, situated within the paradigmatic nexus of Georgia’s Christianization, and connected historically to the narratives of the Cross of Mtskheta and Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. Tradition associates the site with the activity of the Apostles Andrew and Simon the Zealot in Georgia. According to the oldest legend, the altar of the church was established on the roots of a pagan shrine called “Didi Chkhoni” (“Great Oak”), cut by Andrew the First-Called; a cross was carved from the same tree, and infants sacrificed to idols, called “Martvils,” were canonized as holy martyrs. In the 13th century, the church was dedicated to the Holy Martyrs, and after its reconstruction under the name of the Mother of God, the name of the Martvils was preserved in the monastery’s toponym.

The main church, both in its tetraconch cross-type architecture and in the associated treasure of crosses and reliquaries, clearly reflects the artistic and historical layers of the early Christian period; however, the principal wall paintings belong to the 14th, 16th, and 17th centuries. At the same time, the interior preserves fragments of artistic decoration from different periods and media (wall painting, mosaic).

In the altar’s bema arch, depictions of prophets and a winged angel in a medallion are visible, while on the south wall and arch of the western arm of the bema are fragments of venerable fathers, the cross of the revelation in a medallion, and the image of the Virgin Mary. On the eastern wall of the western eukterion, in the lunette of the main interior entrance, the mosaic background of the infant Mother of God and the adjacent angelic figure remain. All these fragments, with stylistic hallmarks of high medieval artistry, represent XI–XII century masterpieces, revealing close connections to contemporary Georgian and Byzantine visual art.

Historical sources indicate that King Bagrat IV (1027–1072) of the unified Georgian kingdom selected the Martvili-Chkondidi church as his eternal burial site during his lifetime and was ultimately interred there. This provides a solid basis for the church’s elaborate decoration and embellishment. It is likely that the earliest layer of the altar’s bema painting was executed during Bagrat IV’s reign, whereas fragments of the western arm’s painting may date slightly later, during the reconstruction following the destruction of Chkondidi in the Great Turkish Invasion of 1080. This period likely coincides with the activity of Giorgi Chkondideli, a tutor and advisor to David IV the Builder, in the late 11th and early 12th centuries, which is also supported by stylistic analysis of the paintings. A similar dating may be applied to the mosaic and the associated compositional wall paintings.

Overall, the previously unstudied XI–XII century fragments of the Martvili church’s artistic decoration are significant not only for the Martvili-Chkondidi Monastery but also for understanding the broader artistic culture of the developed medieval Georgian state.

 

Keywords: Monumental Painting, Mosaic, Martvili-Chkondidi Monastery, Reigns of Bagrat IV and David IV the Builder.