The Panel of the Virgin and Saint Anne from the Church of the Archangels in Iprari. Iconographic and Ideological Aspects

The chapter deals with the eleventh-century iconic images of the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne depicted on the eastern part of a south wall in the Church of the Archangels in Iprari, ad 1096 (Upper Svaneti, north-west Georgia). The topography of the panel and its iconographic context underline its specific role in the decorative programme of this church. The murals of Iprari are the earliest work of ‘King’s Painter Tevdore’, who painted three churches in Svaneti between ad 1096 and ad 1130. The title of Tevdore, mentioned in the dedicatory inscription, reveals his links with the royal court. I argue that the inclusion of the panel of the Virgin and Saint Anne in a small church dedicated to the archangels with a limited number of images, together with religious context has an important political meaning.