Bichvinta mosaic
File:Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia 38.jpg in Tbilisi.]]
The Bichvinta mosaic ({{lang-ka|ბიჭვინთის მოზაიკა}}) is a 5th or 6th-century floor mosaic from the ruined early Christian church at a cape in the coastal town of Bichvinta or Pitsunda, anciently known as Pityus, in Abkhazia/Georgia. It depicts symbolic animals, birds, and plants.
History
The mosaic was discovered, in 1952, in a ruined 4th-century Byzantine three-nave basilica. Fragments of the mosaic pavements were preserved in the apse, the spacious narthex, and baptistery.{{cite book|last1=Djobadze|first1=Wachtang|authorlink1=Wachtang Djobadze|editor1-last=Strayer|editor1-first=Joseph Reese|editor1-link=Joseph Strayer|title=Dictionary of the Middle Ages, Volume 2|publisher=Scribner|isbn=0684170221|page=253|chapter=Bitshvinta}} The surviving fragments were removed, restored, and laid on display at the Georgian National Museum in Tbilisi.{{cite book|last1=Todua|first1=TI|title=ICOM Committee for Conservation. 4th Triennial Meeting, Venice, 13-18 October 1975|date=1975|publisher=ICOM|location=Paris|chapter=Removal and restoration of the Bichvinta mosaic}}
The Pityus mosaic seems to have been inspired by the earlier Roman prototypes{{cite book|last1=Talbot Rice|first1=Tamara|author-link=Tamara Talbot Rice|title=Ancient Arts of Central Asia|series='The World of Art Library' series|date=1965|publisher=Thames and Hudson|page=248}} and reveals close stylistic affinities with Syro-Palestinian mosaics. The closest regional counterpart is the near-contemporaneous mosaic of the Tsromi Church in eastern Georgia.{{cite book|last1=Eastmond|first1=Antony|title=Royal Imagery in Medieval Georgia|date=1998|publisher=Penn State Press|isbn=0-271-01628-0|page=61}}
Description
The mosaic is made of rectangular pieces of local colored stone, with cleanly trimmed brick lime solution. The background is orange. A stylized Greek inscription mentions the donor, Oreli. The central piece of the apse mosaic is a large Christogram, with Alpha and Omega, flanked and framed by interwoven Acanthus foliage. To the left of the monogram there is a depiction of a blossoming plant twig with plants and birds. The composition is embellished with various geometric ornamentation.{{cite book|editor1-last=Gelenava|editor1-first=Irakli|title=Cultural Heritage in Abkhazia|date=2015|publisher=Meridiani|location=Tbilisi|pages=28–29|url=http://meca.gov.ge/assets/news/seqtemebri-2016/%E1%83%9B%E1%83%94%E1%83%9B%E1%83%99%E1%83%95%E1%83%98%E1%83%93%E1%83%A0%E1%83%94%E1%83%9D%E1%83%91%E1%83%90.pdf}} The narthex mosaic contains several small areas depicting fishes and birds. The entrance was embellished with the image of a fountain with birds on either side. Other fragments depict stags and deer.