Giunashvili, Helen. 2026. The 17th Century Georgian Manuscripts (H-599 and S-1594) Featuring Secular Miniatures from the National Centre of Manuscripts of Georgia. The Digital Orientalist (10 November 2026).
In her article, published in The Digital Orientalist (10 November 2026), Helen Giunashvili examines two seventeenth-century Georgian illustrated manuscripts, H-599 and S-1594, preserved at the National Centre of Manuscripts of Georgia. The study highlights the interaction between Georgian artistic traditions and Persian literary and visual influences during the Georgian Renaissance. Manuscript H-599 (1646) contains Shota Rustaveli’s epic The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin, illustrated with 39 miniatures by Mamuka Tavakalashvili. These paintings reflect Georgian folk traditions, local costumes, and contemporary cultural settings.
Of particular importance is manuscript S-1594 (1647), an illustrated Georgian adaptation of selected episodes from Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, entitled Utrutian-Saamiani. Commissioned by Levan II Dadiani, it contains 65 miniatures depicting legendary Persian kings, heroes, battles, and supernatural beings, covering narratives from Kayumars to the birth of Zal. Unlike classical Persian miniatures, these illustrations employ a distinctive Georgian folk style characterized by flattened perspectives, bold outlines, and decorative compositions. The article demonstrates how Persian epic literature, particularly the Shahnameh, was translated, adapted, and visually reinterpreted within Georgian cultural traditions, illustrating centuries of Georgian–Iranian artistic exchange.