The Khakhuli Icon By Guram Abramishvili "MY PEARLS AND RUBIES I OFFER TO THE VIRGIN OF KHAKHULI" From the testament of King David the Builder.

In the feudal epoch the art of Georgian goldsmiths reached the peak of artistic mastery. This ancient art traversed a complicated path of evolution, every stage of which, whether coinciding with a period of florescence, or one of decline, set itself its own artistic tasks. Accordingly, the development of both metalwork and stone carving did not proceed in an unbroken line. This is traceable in the solution of plastic forms, in the application of technical ways and means of creating volume. At the same time, Georgian goldsmiths invariably bore in mind the decorativeness which was then generally accepted, which never lost its expressive quality and blended well with clearly pronounced plastic forms.

Having emerged in Georgian goldsmiths' work during the Middle Ages, the decorative trend mentioned above was powerfully manifested at the peak of feudal times, during the reigns of King David the Builder and his son Demetre I, when Georgia strove for the unification of the Transcaucasus.

It was then that the repoussé triptych of the Khakhuli Virgin was created.

The triptych, kept since 1952 in the treasury of the Georgian State Museum of Fine Art, derives its name from Khakhuli Monastery in Tao, one of Georgia's ancient provinces, where it was originally kept. In the 12th century David the Builder (1089-1125) had the already famous Khakhuli Icon, believed to be miracle-working, conveyed to the Monastery at Gelati, where a new repoussé case was made for it. The lateral panels of the triptych encased in repoussé silverwork were left in their original form as remarkable specimens of the 10th century toreutics, while the rest of the icon was adorned anew with gold, silver, cloisonné enamels and precious stones.
The central part of the triptych, the representation of toe Khakhuli Virgin, was originally an icon of precious metal; the face and hands of the Virgin were in cloisonné enamel. The repoussé background is now lost, while the face and hands, brilliant examples of Georgian cloisonné enamel, are today fixed in the central part of the icon.

According to a five-line inscription on the back of the side panels, these had been commissioned by King David IV the builder, and his son Demetre I; the greater part of the work was done in the reign of the latter (1125 - 1156).

The ornamental and festive aspect of the Khakhuli triptych is its great artistic asset that invariably appeals to the viewer. The general impression, however, is somewhat toned down by the central part of the icon where the face and hands of the Virgin are purely conjecturally fixed on a ground of white canvas. Doubtlessly, the image of the Virgin in the centre of the triptych must originally have been in full harmony with the entire decorative design and was an organic part of it, both as regards artistic treatment and from the ideological point of view.

The decor of the central part of the Khakhuli triptych and the reverse of the lateral panels were done by different masters. The central part, of pure gold, is adorned with a floral design in low relief. The convolutions, rather large at the bottom, grow gradually smaller towards the top of the panels and form a carpet-like pattern covering the whole of the area. The central part is set off by an arch, - an organising element, at the top. This impression is enhanced by a semi-oval ornamental band adorned with cloisonné medallions and precious stones on both sides of the image. The surface above the arch with its ornamentation and rather large rosettes constitutes the principal decor of the central part. A broad ornamental band at the bottom with three large rosettes in relief is consonant with the decor of the upper part.
In contradistinction to the central part, the decor of the lateral panels is executed in a somewhat higher relief. The goldsmiths must have determined where the cloisonné medallions and precious stones were to be set over the whole surface of the icon. In accordance with this, they decided upon the kind of pattern they were to do and the height of the relief. As stated above, the cloisonné enamel medallions and the jewels are concentrated in the central part, while the ornamental background is worked in low relief. As regards the side panels, where there are not so many cloisonné enamels and precious stones, and on whose surface are, mainly, medallions and large crosses, the masters stressed the relief of the patterns, making the forms more plastic, in conformity with the elements decorating the panels. The five-line donator inscription which accentuates the horizontal development of forms and lends them finish is also perceived as an ornamental band.
The significance of the Khakhuli triptych in the history of Georgian art is not determined by the excellence of the repoussé work alone. The ornamental system of the triptych also includes those numerous cloisonné enamels and precious stones that constitute the colour accent of the masterpiece. This polychrome style whose origins can be traced as far back as the 2nd millennium B. C. reappears again, from time to time, in Georgian representational art.

The artists who created the Khakhuli triptych had determined the places where the colour insets were to be, which accentuated the ornamental value of the work and lent it a festive aspect. As seen from David the Builder's testament, he had made an offering of pearls and rubies to the Virgin of Khakhuli. There must also have been, in the Royal treasury, some cloisonné enamels of an early period, which were subsequently used to adorn the triptych. Indeed, there are several early cloisonné enamels on it: the cover of the reliquary is adorned with a cloisonné plaque bearing a Crucifixion scene which, according to style and iconography, belongs to the 8th or 9th century; medallions with representations of the Virgin, St. Theodore and other figures should also be referred to the early Middle Ages.

Especially noteworthy among the 10th and 11th-century cloisonné enamels are the following: the "Supplication" composition, the "Virgin Enthroned, Attended by Archangels and Holy Fathers of the Church": a "Virgin" of the Hodegetria type; numerous cloisonné enamels with the "Coronation" subjects, or the "Warrior Saints", more than a hundred in number. There are also some 19th-century painted enamels which were set in lieu of ancient ones that had been stolen.

The most noteworthy of the Khakhuli triptych enamels is, undoubtedly, one placed in the centre of the arch, bearing a representation of the celestial coronation of a King and Queen. According to a Greek inscription, this is the scene of the marriage and coronation of the Byzantine Emperor Michael Parapinak and the daughter of the Georgian King Bagrat IV, Mariam. In special literature the opinion is voiced that this cloisonné enamel must have been brought to Georgia by Mariam in 1072 when she arrived to visit her sick father Bagrat IV.

Ornamental crosses of cloisonné enamel set in the central parts of the lateral panels, - important elements in the ornamental system of the triptych, are also worthy of attention.

The Khakhuli triptych is a brilliant example of artistic metalwork in feudal Georgia, fully conforming to the epoch in which the idea of its creation was conceived and materialised.

Guram Abramishvili