Shota Rustaveli and the Lailashi Codex: The Story with the Bodleian Library Manuscripts (Wardrop Colls)


A follow-up presentation is scheduled to commemorate the 65th Anniversary of the discovery of the Rustaveli Fresco.

This presentation recounts the story of the greatest Georgian national Poet Shota Rustaveli’s fresco, preserved in the Monastery of the Holy Cross (Jerusalem), which was rescued from disappearing into the abyss of history, with the help of the Lailashi Codex. The rescuer and the rescued – Shota Rustaveli and the Lailashi Codex – will meet, for the first time, over the Bodleian Library manuscripts, including rare editions of Rustaveli’s epic poem The Knight in the Panther’s Skin. The presentation is based on Chapter Four of my book ‘Lailashi Codex: The Crown of Georgian Jewry.’