Georgia and Byzantium in the 14th Century

This paper will explore the relationship between Georgia and Byzantium in the 13th and 14th centuries. It will do so through the lens of enamel-making and consider the 80+ enamels that were attached to icons belonging to members of the Dadiani family in Guria (western Georgia) in this period. This was the largest collection of enamels in private hands in the Middle Ages. Some of these enamels were imported from Byzantium, others were made locally. Most of the icons that held the enamels were deliberately destroyed in the 19th century, to allow for the theft of the enamels and their sale to collectors first in Russia and then internationally. This has meant that the richness of the collection has been overlooked and its importance underestimated. I will review the art historical importance of the material and its potential as historical evidence for political change in Georgia. The making, use and re-use of enamels in this period needs to be understood in terms of the ways in which different noble families responded to the fragmentation of power in Georgia after the Mongol invasions. I argue that they represent one of the various strategies adopted by increasingly autonomous local rulers to augment and display their authority in different regions of the country. This both evoked Byzantium in the Caucasus but also reworked it for local needs.