6 November, 2025
The Oxford Interfaith Forum organises intercultural educational events
to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the recovery of the praying
Shota Rustaveli fresco (dated to the Middle Ages), and
to advance knowledge of his cross-cultural literary
heritage in Western & Eastern academic circles.
Who was Shota Rustaveli—შოთა რუსთაველი?
(c.1160/65—c. after 1220)
Rustaveli’s Fresco in the Jerusalem Monastery of the Cross
Collage©Thea Gomelauri
Left—Shota Rustaveli’s Fresco in Jerusalem;
Right—The Begtabeg copy of Rustaveli’s poem, commissioned by King George XI in 1680, written by Begtabeg Taniashvili. Each page of 263 gold leaves is illuminated uniquely (Ms. H-54).
Courtesy of the National Library of Georgia
Shota Rustaveli, depicted in a praying posture between St John of Damascus and St Maximus the Confessor, pleads:
"ამისა დამხატავსა შოთა(ს) შეუნდვნეს ღმერთმან. ამინ. რუსთველი".
'May God have mercy upon Shota, the painter of this [image]. Amen. Rustveli'.
The Georgian National Poet Shota Rustaveli is immortalised by his single epic poem Vepkhistqaosani (ვეფხისტყაოსანი)—Dressed in a Tiger’s Fur,1 set far away from Georgia in countries—Arabia, India, and mythical lands—that the poet has certainly never visited, featuring the Indian prince Tariel (dressed in a tiger’s fur), and the Arab hero Avtandil.
Written in the shairi verse, and consisting of over 1,600 quatrains, the poem follows their quests driven by love, friendship, and chivalry to rescue Tariel’s beloved Indian princess Nestan-Darejan (Persian نیست اندر جهان {nīst andar jahān}, ‘unique’) from captivity. The characters and events mirror real-life figures. They present a seemingly endless sequence of stories within stories. The poet tells of a knight’s story, who in turn tells other knights’ stories, who in turn relate their own chivalric stories. There is a striking similarity in the content of these stories—all conveying Rustaveli’s message: fundamental similarities can be found underneath superficial differences!
Rustaveli’s aphorisms such as—’ვინც მოყვარესა არ ეძებს, იგი თავისა მტერია, who does not seek a friend is his/her own foe‘ (36:862), ‘ლეკვი ლომისა სწორია, ძუ იყოს, თუნდა ხვადია, a lion’s cubs are equal-be it male or female’ (2:40), ‘რასაცა გასცემ შენია, რაც არა დაკარგულია, what you give away is yours, what you don’t is lost‘ (2:51), and ‘ბოროტსა სძლია კეთილმან, არსება მისი გრძელია, evil is overcomed by goodness—its essence is everlasting’ (57:1361)—cross the boundaries of time and space, and resonate with every generation, culture, religion, and nation.
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1 All translations are by Thea Gomelauri.
NB: Thea Gomelauri translates ვეფხისტყაოსანი as Dressed in a Tiger’s Fur. The poem is known as The Man/Knight in the Panther’s Skin, according to Marjory Wardrop‘s first English-language translation, published posthumously by her brother, Sir John Oliver Wardrop KBE CMG, in 1912 in London.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Thea Gomelauri (June 16, 2025). Article.
65 Years since the Recovery of Shota Rustaveli's Fresco: Gifting 'Dressed in a Tiger's Fur' to the World. Oxford Interfaith Forum.
Retrieved <Month-Date-Year> from https://oxfordinterfaithforum.org/blog/the-65th-anniversary-of-the-recovery-of-the-iconic-interculturalist-poet-shota-rustavelis-medieval-fresco/
Marjory Wardrop‘s personal copy
The book contains dried flowers gathered during her visits to Georgia (Bod. Ms. Wardr.11.27). She underlined a quote: ‘ლეკვი ლომისა სწორია, ძუ იყოს, თუნდა ხვადია’. [A lion’s cubs are equal—be it female or male].
Photo ©Thea Gomelauri
Left – Shota Rustaveli’s fresco on the wall of the Jerusalem Monastery of the Cross, the background features excerpts from his poem ‘Dressed in a Tiger’s Fur’, in the Hebrew and Georgian languages on the Israeli postage stamp;
Right – Cover page of Irakli Abashidze’s book (The Diary of Palestine, Tbilisi: Literaturuli Gazeti, 1961), a daily account of a special mission to Jerusalem to recover Rustaveli’s only known image.
Courtesy of the National Library of Georgia
https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/25563949.oxford-host-multilingual-conference-medieval-poet/
Multilingual Conference & Exhibition
Rustaveli’s Gift to Humanity:
‘Dressed in a Tiger’s Fur’ in World Languages
Date: 6 November, 2025
Time: 16:00-18:00 GMT
Venue: All Souls College
All are welcome, but registration is required.
Or
Scan the QR Code to Book
Convened by Dr Thea Gomelauri and Muhammad Hameem Bin Sheik Alaudin
With Special Thanks to:
Abashidze, Zaza. Director of the Korneli Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts.
Akhalaia, Guram. The owner of the largest private collection of the Vepkhistqaosani editions in 59 languages.
Dzuliashvili, Archil. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (also covering Iraq, and Lebanon), facilitated translation & publication of the poem in Arabic, Bengali, and Hindi languages during his diplomatic tenures in Egypt and India.
Jaoshvili, Vakhtang. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Republic of India.
Mehta, Akhil. Director of Mehta Publishing House Pvt. Ltd, publisher of the poem’s translation into the Marathi language.
Neeta, Gupta. Publishing Director at Tethys Books, Former publisher at Yatra Books, and Executive Member at Ashoka University Centre for Translation.
Osipova, Shorena. Head of Rare Books Collections at the National Library of Georgia.
PROGRAMME
Introducing Rustaveli: Multilingual Reading of ‘Dressed in a Tiger’s Fur’
Chair: University Public Orator Dr Jonathan Katz
Opening Address: Richard Ovenden OBE, Hon FBA, FSA, FRSA, FRHistS, FRSE,
Bodley’s Librarian and the Helen Hamlyn Director of the University Libraries,
Head of Gardens, Libraries and Museums at the University of Oxford
Introductions: Dr Thea Gomelauri and Muhammad Hameem Bin Sheik Alaudin
Presentations and readings on twelve languages:
Arabic: شوتا رستافلي الفارس ذو جلد النمر
Translated by Nizar Khalili, in prose in 1984, in verse in 2016.
Presented and read by Yusuf Tayara, Fellow of Oxford Interfaith Forum
Bengali: প্যান্থার-চর্মযুক্ত, রুস্তভেলি শোটা (Bagher Chaddobeshi Bir)
Translated by Taherul Islam Taher, illustrated by Mohammad Mahmudul Hasan, 2022.
Presented and read by Utsa Bose, Fellow of Oxford Interfaith Forum
Chinese: 虎皮武士 绍塔·鲁斯塔维里
Translated by Han Shiheng 韓侍桁 in 1944.
Presented and read by Xiaoyan Ji, Fellow of the Oxford Interfaith Forum
English: Dressed in a Tiger’s Fur (Other titles: The Man/Knight/Lord in the Panther’s Skin).
Lyn Coffin’s translation into metrical and rhymed English verse received the 2016 SABA Prize.
Presented and read by Dr Anna Chrysostomides, Fellow of the Oxford Interfaith Forum
French: Le Chevalier à la peau de panthère, Chota Roustavéli
Translated by Gaston Buachidze, illustrated by Rusudan Petviashvili, 1987.
Presented and read by Professor Neil Kenny, FBA
Georgian: ვეფხისტყაოსანი, შოთა რუსთველი (Vepkhistqaosani)
The original language
Presented and read by Dr Thea Gomelauri
Hebrew: שותא רוסתוולי עוטה עור הנמר
Translated by Boris Gaponov, who was awarded the Shota Rustaveli Prize posthumously.
Presented and read by Dr Shoni Levie-Driver
Hindi: शेर की खाल वाला वीर, शोथा रुस्थावेली / Sher Ki Khaal Wala Samant Shoorvir
Translated by Dr Bhupinder Aziz Parihar; illuminated by Onkar Fondekar. 2021.
Presented and read by University Public Orator Dr Jonathan Katz
Japanese: 豹皮の騎士 ショタ・ルスタヴェリ
Translated by Ippei Fukuro in prose in 1955, in verse in 1972.
Presented and read by Ayna Taira Li
Persian: که پوست پلنگ بر تن دارد شوتا روستاولی (Palangīnehpūš)
Translated by Dr Farshid Delshad
Presented and read by Muhammad Hameem Bin Sheik Alaudin, Fellow of Oxford Interfaith Forum
Russian: Витязь в тигровой шкуре, Шота Руставели
Translated by Shalva Nutsubidze, 1941.
Presented by Dr Thea Gomelauri and read by The Revd Canon Dr Hugh Wybrew
Spanish: El Caballero de la Piel de Tigre, Shotha Rusthaveli
Translated by Gustavo Alfredo de la Torre Botarro
Special Guest of Honour, Ambassador Zurab Abashidze, Professor in Interdisciplinary Studies at Tbilisi State University, and Editor-in-Chief of the Irakli Abashidze Scientific Board at the Georgian Encyclopedia, to present International Significance of the Recovery of Shota Rustaveli’s Fresco, and read the Spanish translation (remote participation).
Closing Remarks: University Public Orator, Dr Jonathan Katz
Supported by the Office of the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alexander Betts FBA, FacSS
The Exhibition features:
- The 21st-Century Collective Manuscript, written by 287 people over 18 years, illuminated by 17 artists, spearheaded by Dr Guram Akhalaia
- The Special Georgian edition ‘Dowry (mzitevi)’ (Love Exalts Us)
- Marjory Wardrop’s translation, illustrated by Georgian miniatures from the Tsereteli manuscript (NCM, S-5006), dedicated to her 150th birth anniversary
- Marjory Wardrop’s translation, published by the Royal Asiatic Society
- Editions in Arabic, Assamese, Hindi, and Marathi languages, and a special bilingual Georgian-Megrelian edition
- Various editions from Alexander Sherborne‘s personal collection, including the 1712 book printed by King Vakhtang VI, and reproduced by Akaki Shanidze in 1937; and Lyn Coffin’s translation into English, awarded the highest Georgian literary Prize, SABA
The Geographical Landscape of Rustaveli’s Heroes
on Three Continents and the Indian Ocean
Professor Levan Maruashvili’s geographical research over fifty years, studying the journeys of Rustaveli’s heroes, revealed a hidden pattern. The characters’ travel timings, and trajectories are consistent with the wind movement system in the Indian Ocean, leading to the conclusion that the poem is a beautiful combination of literary art and science!
Maruashvili’s Maps Depicting a Geographical Landscape of the Poem
Courtesy of the National Library of Georgia
Background
According to medieval pilgrims, Shota Rustaveli’s colourful image, with the ancient Georgian Asomtavruli inscription, was depicted on a wall in the Georgian Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem. However, since the ownership of the Monastery passed to the Greek Patriarchate in the 17th century, Rustaveli’s image with the inscription, believed to have been made by his own hand, was defaced along with other multiple artefacts to conceal the Monastery’s Georgian ecclesiastical history.
Aerial View of the Former Georgian Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem,
which houses Shota Rustaveli’s Fresco
The first documentary evidence of Rustaveli’s fresco in the Georgian Monastery of the Cross belongs to the Georgian Archbishop Timothy Gabashvili, who mentioned it in his travel essay describing his visit to the Holy Land in 1754. However, when Georgian-born historian and linguist Nikolay Marr visited the Monastery in 1899, he could not find it. It was considered lost until 1960.
On 28 October 1960, three prominent Georgian academicians—Akaki Shanidze, Irakli Abashidze, and Giorgi Tsereteli—travelled to Jerusalem (divided between two countries at that time) on diplomatic passports. Nikita Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, personally approved the mission.
6 November 1960 marks a watershed moment in Georgian national history and identity.
Rustaveli on the Wall in the Monastery of the Cross
Before 6 November 1960, and After
Photo courtesy of National Library of Georgia
Surprising Interfaith & Intercultural Links
On 6 November 1960, three Georgian scholars made history by recovering Shota Rustaveli’s only known image, concealed beneath the black paint at the former Georgian Monastery of the Cross, without the permission of the Custodian of the Monastery—the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Jerusalem, and with a ‘little help’ from the Jewish national treasure – the Lailashi Codex. Dr Thea Gomelauri first wrote about the recovery of Rustaveli’s fresco, and its connection with the greatest medieval Hebrew manuscript in her acclaimed book, The Lailashi Codex: The Crown of Georgian Jewry. This captivating story (Chapter Four of the book) is available below.
The Lailashi Codex: The Crown of Georgian Jewry
Chapter 4 about Rustaveli’s Fresco and the Lailashi Codex
“საბოლოოდ გავწმინდეთ შავი სუდარისაგან შოთას დიდებული სახე და დავდექით მის წინაშე.” (ირაკლი აბაშიძე. პალესტინის დღიური. 1961.)
‘Finally, we cleansed Shota’s glorious face from the black shroud, and we stood in front of him.’
(An extract from Irakli Abashidze’s book, The Palestine Diary, 1961.)
From right to left: Irakli Abashidze, Akaki Shanidze, and Giorgi Tsereteli at Rustaveli’s fresco, in 1960.
Photo courtesy of Georgian National Archive.
Rustaveli’s Fresco (in a red circle) in the Monastery of Cross
Photo courtesy of National Library of Georgia
The Gate of the Monastery of the Cross
Photo courtesy of National Library of Georgia
The Bodleian Library Manuscripts
The eleventh-century Georgian manuscript from the Jerusalem Monastery of the Cross.
The work includes the Georgian version of the Sasanian conquest of Jerusalem in 614,
written by Giorgi Prokhore (BOD. Ms. Georg. b.1).
‘Dressed in a Tiger’s Fur’ (Vepkhistqaosani) in the Georgian Language
A Personal Copy of Princess Mzekhatun Batonishvili (1783–1829), a daughter of King David II.
Presented to the Bodleian Library by Prince Giorgi Tsereteli, via Princess Venera Tsereteli.
The manuscript includes fifty full-page illustrations and is inscribed on
the UNESCO Memory of the World Heritage Register (BOD. Ms. Ward. d. 17).
‘Dressed in a Tiger’s Fur’ (Vepkhistqaosani) in the Georgian Language
The sixteenth/seventeenth-century manuscript contains eight full-page and three in-text illustrations.
The last known owner: Sir Bernard Eckstein (BOD. Ms. Ward. d. 27).
The manuscript is inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Heritage Register.
Previous Presentations
3 May, 2024
The Bodleian Weston Library, University of Oxford
Gallery of the 2024 Presentation
The Bodleian Library
Photo/video courtesy of Jyotveer Gill Singh
The Manuscripts’ Illuminations
The Begtabeg edition, copied for King George XI in 1680,
by the Georgian poet and caligrapher Begtabeg Tadiashvili. (Ms.H-54).
The Avalishvili copy contains three illuminations similar to Persian illumination art, owned by the Catholicos Patriarch of Eastern Georgia Ioane Avalishvili, 1612-1616 (Ms. H-2074).
Rustaveli’s poem was the first secular book printed in Georgian typography by King Vakhtang VI’s printing press in 1712. The title page (pictured below) mentions the King and the printer, but not the author, and is dated by two calendar systems.
Photo courtesy of Georgian National Archive
To underscore the international significance of Rustaveli’s literary heritage, and to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the poem’s first print, UNESCO announced 2012 to be the Rustaveli Year.
In 2018, the UN celebrated Shota Rustaveli’s 850th anniversary by issuing special post stamps (a pane of 10 stamps and 10 labels) featuring Rustaveli’s heroes.
