Original wall paintings at the church of the Saviour in Chvabiani (Upper Svaneti, Georgia) and Byzantine art at the turn of the tenth to eleventh centuries

A rare ensemble of wall paintings at the Church of the Saviour in Chvabiani, Upper Svaneti, Georgia, has been confirmed to date back to 978-1001, challenging prior assumptions about their origins. Through meticulous analysis of technique and style, researchers demonstrated that both the Theophany in the conch and the Apostles in the lower zone are original works from the turn of the tenth to eleventh century, showing no traces of later repainting. These paintings exhibit exceptional quality and strong affinities with Byzantine art, suggesting they may have been created by a visiting artist, likely Georgian-trained at a major Byzantine center. The findings provide new insights into the artistic exchange between Georgia and Byzantium during this formative period.

Zakharova, A., & Sverdlova, S. (2015). Original wall paintings at the church of the Saviour in Chvabiani (Upper Svaneti, Georgia) and Byzantine art at the turn of the tenth to eleventh centuries. Zograf, (39), 11–23. https://doi.org/10.2298/zog1539011z