Ateni Sioni Church
Ateni Sioni Church ატენის სიონი (in Georgian) | |
---|---|
Ateni Sioni Church. | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Georgian Orthodox |
Location | |
Location | Ateni, Gori, Shida Kartli, ![]() |
Geographic coordinates | 41°54′14″N 44°05′46″E / 41.9039°N 44.0960°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Church |
Completed | 7th century |
The Ateni Sioni Church (
Architecture
Sioni is an early example of a "four-apse church with four niches"
The church is not dated but is very similar in design to the Jvari Monastery at Mtskheta, which is generally held to have preceded it, and, hence, has been described by some art historians as belonging to the "Jvari-type" group of churches.[3] Todosak, mentioned in an undated Armenian inscription on the southern facade as "I, Todosak, the builder of this holy church" is considered to have been an Armenian architect Todosak of the original church[4] or its late 10th-century renovator.[5]
Frescoes
The architects were not originally planning frescoes on the inside walls. They appeared only in the second half of the 11th century. It is believed that the walls were painted by a group of at least four artists, who created a monumental harmonious composition. Each apse contains its own iconographic cycle. Dynamic figures are clearly outlined, painted predominantly in light colors - blue, grey, purple. Every fold of clothes is meant to show movement, like in the figure of the angel. The western apse also contains portraits of the kings and nobility who supported the construction.[6]
Inscriptions
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Ateni_mural.jpg/220px-Ateni_mural.jpg)
The walls of the church contain numerous inscriptions inside and outside, among them the earliest known in
Near the church there are the ruins of the medieval fortified town of Ateni (modern-day villages of Didi Ateni and Patara Ateni).
References
- ^ Patrick Donabedian & J.-M. Thierry, Armenian Art, New York 1989, p.67.
- ^ Закарая, П. (1983) Памятники Восточной Грузии. Искусство, Москва, 376 с. [Zakaraya, P. Monuments of Eastern Georgia] (In Russian)
- ^ Wachtang Beridse, Die Baukunst des Mittelalters in Georgien, Berlin 1980, p.27.
- ^ Patrick Donabedian & J.-M. Thierry, Armenian Art, New York 1989, p.499.
- ^ Rapp, Stephen H. (1997), Imagining history at the crossroads: Persia, Byzantium, and the architects of the written Georgian past, p. 648. Armenian Research Center collection, University of Michigan.
- ^ Закарая, П. (1983) Памятники Восточной Грузии. Искусство, Москва, 376 с. [Zakaraya, P. Monuments of Eastern Georgia] (In Russian)
- ISBN 90-429-1318-5.
- ^ Закарая, П. (1983) Памятники Восточной Грузии. Искусство, Москва, 376 с. [Zakaraya, P. Monuments of Eastern Georgia] (In Russian)
External links
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