The House of Vardanisdze and the Painting of Jumati Church of Archangels of the First Half of the Fourteenth Century

Abstract

The article looks at the issues of establishing a powerful medieval Georgian feudal clan – the Vardanisdze – in Guria and, consequently, those of adopting the hereditary title of Gurieli seen through the portraits identified in the murals of Jumati Monastery. Based on the analysis of artistic style, the painting of the Church dates from the first half of the fourteenth century. The memorial portrait of the prideworthy ancestor of the Vardanisdze family was identified during the 2022 expedition of Tamaz Beradze Institute of Georgian Studies of the University of Georgia. Indeed, in the first half of the fourteenth century, the Gurieli - governor of Guria- of the Vardanisdze dynasty, who would most probably be depicted on the north wall near the altar of the church, must have been the initiator of representing the portrait of their ancestor. Regrettably, the murals succumbed to the later period painting and architectural alterations of the church, although the layer of the painting of the first half of the fourteenth century on the western part of the north wall still preserves a donor portrayal of a strange couple - a monk and a nun. It is probable that the monk was the first Vardanisdze, who was granted the title of Gurieli after losing Svaneti dukedom