Georgia - Medieval Monuments

Pushing back the boundaries of Italian art history and placing it within a European and Mediterranean context is a huge challenge for a photo library like the one at the Kunsthistorisches Institute in Florence. This broadening of perspective makes it necessary to add new focal points to the collection of the photo library, which to date was centred on the art and architecture of Italy in the narrower sense of the word. These focal points reflected the research tradition of the institute, which also was the motive for its founding. As a response to the evolution of the research interests, the photo library is now on the verge of expanding its inventory with individual self-contained groups, without challenging the main focus of the collection on Italian art.

The first "photo island" of this type to augment the "photo library archipelago" was a result of collaboration with the Wolf Directorate. As part of a joint research project between our institute and Georgian and Swiss institutes, Gerhard Wolf commissioned the photographer Dror Maayan for a large-scale photo campaign in 2006. This campaign was completed under the most challenging conditions and in regions that were to a certain extent impenetrable. As a result, a globally unique documentation of the medieval monuments of Georgia is now available. The photo library acquired more than one thousand photographs, which have been catalogued and are now available for consultation on the Internet in the digital photo library.

The online exhibition presented here provides an overview of the medieval art of Georgia, at the cultural crossroads of Asia and Europe.

go to Online Exhibition