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eBook - Medieval Georgian Cloisonne Enamels History - of Georgian Cloisonne Enamels
The number and the wide range of chronology of the enamel-work and the high artistic standard of most exhibits account for the singular value of the Georgian collection which can very well rival the famous collection of enamel-work in Venice. Moreover, the world-famous Khakhuli Triptych, which is itself a “museum” of the finest specimens of cloisonné enamels ranging from the eighth to twelfth centuries, ought to be singled out rather than compared to the Pala d'Oro of Venice as a unique monument with a striking number of enamels (there are more than a hundred of them) which are arranged with a high artistic organization, following the chiselled ornament. This results in a well balanced ensemble reflecting the splendour and magnificence of the epoch. The Georgian State Museum of Fine Arts shelters more than two hundred exhibits of cloisonné enamels. Scattered in various monasteries they were replenished with the monuments returned to Georgia in 1923 and later and are now concentrated in the museum. True, some enamels are displayed in Berdzenishvili Museum in Kutaisi or in Svaneti but the principal part of the enamel heritage of Georgia is preserved in the Georgian State Museum of Fine Arts in Tbilisi. The enamels represented in this collection are divided into two groups: Georgian and Byzantine. Both these groups vividly demonstrate various stages of development of medieval enamel-work, from the first steps to its ultimate disappearance with all its fascination never to be repeated any more.
The cloisonné enamels of the Museum are all church attributes with the exception of a pendant and a bracelet, the only lay objects of the collection. All these enamels are virtually icons, crosses and separate plates and medallions fixed to repoussé works and usually decorated with a string of pearls. Their dimensions are rather small. The Holy Feast images and those representing St. George are comparatively larger. The half figure of Pantocrator on the Khakhuli triptych isn't particularly small either (8cm x 7cm). But the image of the Khakhuli Virgin surpasses in size all the enamels of the collection. Moreover, it is the biggest cloisonné enamel in the world (116cm and 95 cm).  |
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The collection of medieval enamels in the Georgian State Museum of Fine Arts is considered, with good reason, one of the richest in the world, lasting among its exhibits some rare examples of this complex and refined form of art. The wealth and variety of the collection is all the more amazing if one considers all the enamels previously kept in Georgia and subsequently lost and destroyed or dispersed to different museums (the Hermitage, the Cluny Museum, the Metropolitan Museum, the National Museum in Berlin, etc.) and private collections throughout the world. 
All the enamels of the museum both Georgian and Byzantine are executed with the use of generally accepted techniques on 24 carat gold or gold and. silver alloy commonly known as electrum which makes the enamel firmer. The polishing which is conducive to the strength and durability of the enamels has not always been perfect especially in Georgian specimens. Nevertheless they have been preserved in a fairly good state. Out of all the enamels that have safely come down to our day only the Khakhuli icon of the Virgin was badly damaged retaining only the face and hands. The icon was stolen during the thoroughly organized pillage of the Gelati monastery in 1859; it subsequently entered the collection of M. Botkin and was only returned to Georgia in 1923 in a badly fragmented state.
