Pirosmani’s Portraits restored
By Mariam Chanishvili
Wednesday, February 15
The portraits of Shota Rustaveli and Queen Tamar, painted by Niko Pirosmani, have been restored with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia. The project was financed by TBC Bank.
The restoration process took three months, and was carried out by specialists of the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Art’s workshop, Nana Managadze and Evelyna Carcel.
The works of art were painted around 1913-1914 by Pirosmani, and they became part of the Mirzaani Collection in 1989 after being gifted by Georgian philologist Ioseb Megrelidze and Nino Shvangiradze from their private collection.
The paintings are now kept in the Niko Pirosmanashvili Museum, a museum branch of the famous Georgian painter Niko Pirosmanashvili (1862-1918) Mirzaani House-Museum (Dedoplistskaro district) and home where he lived last years of his life. Some originals and copies are kept in the museum, including the artist’s personal items. Other originals are kept in Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Art in Tbilisi.
The Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Art houses the best-known samples of Georgian artwork. The permanent exhibitions display artworks from medieval times up to the twentieth century, and there are also some collections of the pre-Christian era. The Museum is distinguished for its Georgian goldsmith pieces dating back to the VIII-XIX Centuries.
On February 2-3, a special exhibition was held in the TBC gallery. The newly-restored works of Pirosmani were presented, as well as some other works of the artist from the Mirzaani Collection.
The restoration process was held under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia.
