A lot of works have been dedicated to the Georgian dressing, but the history of Georgian dressing has not been
valuably explored even today. It is impossible to study the Georgian dressing without the existing sources and documents
about dressing of the Near East peoples, because, for many centuries, Georgian People had close relations with various
nations of the mentioned region.
In the XVI-XVII centuries, Iran-Georgia relations got intensified as a result of the following factors: close political
and cultural relations with the Byzantine Empire was disrupted after the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453 and
shaped powerful Osman Empire instead. At the end of the XV century, the united monarchy of Georgia collapsed and
several kingdoms and principalities arose instead. Osman Empire and Iran split the country under the 1555 peaceful
agreement. Amid these developments, Persian culture demonstrates growing influence in Georgia, especially on the
Georgian dressing.
Nobody has dedicated a monograph to the dressing of Kings and Nobles of the XVI-XVII centuries and nobody
has compared this dressing to clothing of Iran in that period. Separate research works by scientists do not suffice to give
a full picture of that period.
We have searched out important materials of several frescoes in western Georgia, which demonstrate strong Iranian
influence in clothing of Georgian kings and nobles. The most part of these frescoes were not explored in this respect and
they will be studied for the first time in the context of Iranian influence. Objective of the project is to carry out full
systematization of the mentioned materials, replenish them and study them.
Objective of our research work is to illustrate those samples of the wall painting (frescoes) of Georgian Christian
Churches of the XVI-XVII centuries of Georgia, where clothing of depicted church donators, Kings, nobles and their
families demonstrate Iranian influence. The work will also discuss the historical environment that enhanced similar
tendencies in clothing. Emphasis will be made on separate details of clothing and their symbolic meaning.
Our objective is to introduce visual photo materials of this dressing. We believe that it is very important to
demonstrate the current condition of these frescoes in contemporary world.