International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Irene Giviashvili
,
 
Khakhuli Icon and Building of the Regency
Nina Burtchuladze
, 
The 12
th
Century Painted Epistyle with Georgian Inscriptions on Mount Sinai 
and Sinaitic-Georgian Icons in Svaneti (On the Georgian Artistic Workshop at Sinai)
Nina Chichinadze
, 
Self-Representations of Artists in Medieval Georgia
Leri Tavadze
, 
Georgian Coins with Byzantine Iconography and Imperial Titulature of the Georgian Kings

---

582
Ekaterine Kvatchatadze
George Chubinashvili National Research Centre 
for Georgian Art History and Heritage Preservation, Tbilisi, Georgia; 
[e-mail]
“Majestas Domini” in Medieval Georgian Sculpture
The composition of the Lord’s Glory (Majestas Domini) – a scene where Christ is seated on 
a throne and glorified by angels – was quite widespread in Medieval Christian art. This theme was 
also very popular in Medieval Georgian art, with the possibility of stating that it represented one 
of the most favourite scenes of Georgian master artists. It can be seen for quite an extensive period 
of time, from the early period to the late Middle Ages (up to 19
th
cent.). Consequently, a variety 
of iconographic versions of Majestas Domini can be found in Georgia (ex. The scene of Majestas 
Domini being connected to the mystery of the Eucharist – Svetitskhoveli, 11
th
cent.; a representation 
of a relation to Solomon’s Temple – the ruins of the “Black Village”, 8
th
-9
th
cent., etc.).
Due to the triumphal, theophanic nature of the theme, the locations for placing the scene 
were basically the sacred areas immediately captivating to the viewer: the altar conch, the dome, 
the architrave, the tympanon, etc. This scene was the most frequently represented on the altar 
conch in medieval Georgian wall painting throughout the centuries (from the first half of the 7
th
century to the end of the 10
th
). Compositions reflecting the Majestas Domini in Georgian sculpture 
are encountered on the facade décor of churches (the ruins of the “Black Village”, 8
th
-9
th
cent; the 
Borjomi tympanon, 9
th
cent; Svetitskhoveli, 11
th
cent; Ananuri, 17
th
cent; “Gigo’s Church”, 17
th
cent; 
Peter and Paul at Sagarejo, 18
th
cent.), as well as on altar screens and stellae (Khandisi Stella, 6
th
cent; 
the Tsebeldi iconostasis, 8
th
-9
th
cent.). The representation of the enthroned Lord being glorified by 
the angels is the most laconic version of this scene, whereas a comparatively more extensive variant 
is implied by images of the Evangelists, or more frequently their tetramorphic symbols: an angel, 
an lion, an bull and an eagle – and the inclusion of figures of the Cherubim and Seraphim (with 
wheels of fire) as well (the Tsebeldi iconostasis, 8
th
-9
th
cent; the Svetitskhoveli iconostasis, 10
th
-11
th
cent). The number 4 is frequently prominent in scenes of Majestas Domini as a symbol of the four 
Gospels, the order of the cosmos, of wholeness, constancy, and the heavenly Jerusalem. The angels 
glorifying Christ, however, chant the Trisagion hymn (which is sometimes reflected in inscriptions 
accompanying the images): “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabbaoth! The entire earth is filled with 
His glory” (Is. 6:3).
It is apparent that the theological essence of the Lord’s Glory is based foremost on the prophetic 
Biblical texts of Isaiah (2:19, 6:1-4), Ezekiel (1:4-28, 43:4) and the apocalyptic visions of John’s 
Revelation (4:2-9) as a revelation of God, where the premonitions of the Lord’s Second Coming 
have also been pictured in regard to the Last Judgment along with the Lord’s eternal Glory.
It is almost impossible to clearly set apart the images of the eternal glorification of the Lord 
as the Creator of the Universe and its beginning, and of Christ seated upon a throne, having come 
again for the Last Judgment as described in the Holy Scripture. From an iconographic point of 
view, these phenomena have been uniformly consolidated through a similar iconographic motif, 

---

583
having been fused together within this sudden moment and space (ex. Nikortsminda, 11
th
cent.). 
It is precisely the merit of its essential idea that Majestas Domini becomes an indivisible part of 
extensive fresco compositions of “Judgment Day”, as well as sculptures on the portals of western 
European churches (mostly the western facade featuring an eschatological theme).
This iconographic theme often appears on the upper register of another theophanic theme – 
the Ascension of Christ. In that case, Majestas Domini can be understood as a prefiguration of the 
mystical, eternal Ascension (Ps. 23:7) (ex. Kvemo Bolnisi, 6
th
cent; the Cross at Mtskheta, 6
th
-7
th
cent; 
Zedazeni, 7
th
cent.). Thus, it can be stated that the composition of Majestas Domini had become an 
archetypal, paradigmatic image visually expressing the generalized, unified revelation of God as a 
single transcendental phenomenon in accordance with the laconic, conventional, metaphorically 
expressive language of the medieval Christian art in general, as well as Gerogian art of the same 
period.