Painting on wood, Georgian, 13th century
State Museum of Fine Arts, Tbilisi
Photo: Nino Chichinadze

The Dormition scene plays an important part in the central panel of this triptych; it occupies the panel’s upper part and sides. The central panel has a square opening, probably for an icon of the Virgin, which is now lost. The figures of the apostles Peter and Paul, which belong to the scene of the Dormition, are enlarged here in such a way that they frame the missing square panel. The presence of the Dormition scene at the top and of four female saints at the bottom of this panel may suggest that this triptych was commissioned by a female donor for a devotional or commemorative purpose.