100 Lari 2020, Georgia
| in Krause book | Number: 80 |
| Years of issue: | 2020 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | President of the National Bank of Georgia: Koba Gvenetadze |
| Serie: | 2016 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 2016 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 142 х 70 |
| Printer: | Polska Wytwornia Papierow Wartocziowych, Warszawa |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Denomination 100. Emblem of "GEL". Shota Rustaveli.
Avers:
Shota Rustaveli (Georgian შოთა რუსთაველი; c. 1160 / c. 1172 - c. 1216 / after 1220, Jerusalem) - Georgian poet of the XII century, author of the poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin", one of the greatest works of Georgian literature.
Shota Rustaveli is a great Georgian poet. His poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" is a recognized masterpiece of world literature. The life and strange death of the poet is shrouded in secrets and legends - biographers are still arguing. Poet, artist, monk, Her Majesty's treasurer or lover of the Queen Tamar?!
The author of the world masterpiece, one of the most famous Georgian works called "The Knight in the Panther's Skin", Shota Rustaveli, in addition to writing, was engaged in state activities. He lived in the XII century, for this reason there is little reliable information about him.
The life of the author of the poem is shrouded in a halo of mystery, it is not known when and where he was born, the poet died, in what family he was brought up. However, there are many legends about him. With a high degree of probability, it can be assumed that the Rustaveli family belonged to the aristocracy, because Shota served as the royal treasurer (in the 12th century, such a position was completely inaccessible to subjects of lower origin). The poet himself claims in the manuscript that he is a Meskhetian. With the education of Rustaveli, it is more understandable: he studied in Greece, was perfectly familiar with Arabic and Persian literature. In addition to the poetic gift, Rustaveli had artistic talents, he participated in the painting of the temple (according to some sources, the image of the poet found there is a self-portrait).
The life of the poet fell on the period of the reign of the great Queen Tamara, who patronized literature. Treasurer Rustaveli accompanied Tamara on numerous trips and, according to legend, was hopelessly in love with her. Once the queen gave the poet a golden pen for his poetic merits. Since then, the young man always wore a gift from the queen on his hat and would not agree to sell it for any money.
The date and circumstances of the death of Shota Rustaveli are unknown, there are different versions. According to one of them, the poet married a certain Nina, and soon after the wedding he died without leaving any offspring. Another version is even sadder: Queen Tamara, touched by another beautiful poem about love, generously rewarded the poet, but the lover refused to take a lot of money. The next day, the poet was found beheaded: there were rumors among the people that the killer acted on the orders of the jealous king, Tamara's husband. The fans of the great writer like the third version more than the others: he left Georgia as a result of the change of royal power, lived happily and died in Jerusalem. According to the fourth version, the hopelessly in love poet became a monk and lived until old age in a monastery. (www.ethnomir.ru .rus)
Centered is The Illustration by Sergei Solomonovich Kobuladze for Shota Rustaveli's poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin, 1936-1937. Gouache, ink. Read more about the poem below.
Right, lower of the portrait of Shota Rustaveli is a page from the first edition of Shota Rustaveli's poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin, 1712.
Around the portrait of the poet, as well as on top of the banknote, there is a floral pattern, which is present in the ornament of the pages of the first edition of the poem.
The epic poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" was written in the XII century. (between 1189 and 1212) Shota Rustaveli. The original in its original form has not reached us, as well as accurate information about the identity of the author. The oldest manuscript is dated 1646. The first printed edition of the poem took place in 1712 on the initiative and under the editorship of the founder of the Georgian printing house, King Vakhtang the Sixth (1675-1737). It can be assumed that lists of works that have not survived to this day were available to him, on the basis of which the so-called "Vakhtangov" edition was created. Since then, the poem has been published many times (50 times only in Georgian) and has been translated into many languages of the world.
A copy of the first edition is also unique in that it is part of the collection of Tsarevich John (Bagrationi). This most valuable collection of books, acquired in 1880 by the Imperial Public Library, is a monument of Georgian writing.
This poem has not come down to us in its original form. Over the centuries, the text of the poem has undergone certain changes in the hands of successors - imitators and many scribes. Many interpolated later editions of the 16th-18th centuries have been preserved, and among researchers the dispute continues both regarding the content as a whole and regarding the interpretation of individual passages of the work. There is also a continuation of the poem, known under the name "Omaniani". Of all the editions of the poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin", the so-called Vakhtangov edition, printed in Tiflis in 1712 by Tsar Vakhtang VI and provided with special comments, is canonized and most common. There are up to thirty new editions of the poem, but with the exception of two, all of them in essence are, to a greater or lesser extent, a repetition of the Vakhtangov edition. The philosophical and religious views of Rustaveli were recognized by the official church of that time as heretical; she opened the persecution against the poem.
Until now, the question of where Rustaveli borrowed the plot of his poem remains unresolved. Four opinions have been expressed in literature: the first is based on the words of Rustaveli himself, who in the 16th stanza of the poem states that “he found the Persian story and transcribed it in verse, like a large pearl passing from hand to hand”; however, the Persian original, despite all the searches, has not yet been found. The Persian story that Rustaveli is talking about seems to be a retelling of the Indian epic Ramayana, which coincides with the poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin both in general, in the main storyline, and in many small details.
The second opinion was first expressed by Professor D. I. Chubinov, who proves that Rustaveli did not borrow the plot of The Knight in the Panther's Skin from Eastern writers; it was created by him and directed to the glorification of Queen Tamara.
The third opinion belongs to A. Khakhanov: comparing Rustaveli's poems with folk songs about Tariel, he suggested that the artificial poem of the 12th century has folk poetry as its basis, just as Faust and Hamlet go back to medieval folk traditions. Rustaveli used folk tales to depict a great historical era. A comparison of the songs about Tariel circulating among the Georgian people with Rustaveli's poem, where the main character is Tariel, reveals their unconditional similarity in the general plot and in the details.
On the other hand, a comparison of Tamara's life with the events described in the poem gives reason to think that Tamara herself is hiding under the name of the main character, Nestan-Darejan. It can be thought that the poet deliberately transferred the plot of "The Knight ..." to an ideal locality - "to India, Arabia, China" - in order to divert the reader from conjectures and hide his love, "for which there is no cure ...".
Although there are suggestions that the events described in the poem are transferred to other countries in order to show that ethnic differences between peoples are insignificant and this story could have happened in any other country, not only in Georgia. Despite disputes about the origin, the book remains a valuable event in the life of mankind. (kp.rusneb.ru .rus) 
Top right of the poets portrait is VII century bas-relief of biblical plot "Daniel in the Den of Lions" from Martvili Cathedral of Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
From the photo of the bas-relief, such a story turned out.
Immediately, I want to say a huge thank you to Vera Zavaritskaya, from Russia, for helping me find this photo.
It turned out that I couldn't find it anywhere. Suddenly, I went to Vera's page, on one of the third-party sites, and saw that she was taking a photo of this church. I asked if she didn't have a photo of this bas-relief.
Here is what Vera wrote to me:
"Oleg, good afternoon!
Unfortunately, this relief is not available - it is located on the western facade of the cathedral, and during the reconstruction of the cathedral, when the western vestibule was added to it, it ended up inside the premises of the second floor, where, apparently, the sacristy is currently located and the door is always closed . A photograph of him can be found in the book "Monumental Sculpture of Georgia", N.A. Aladashvili, M., Art, 1977. (archive.org)
The Church of the Assumption (21 x 17.5 m) - is built in the middle of a small fenced square. The temple has reached us in a heavily rebuilt form. It was originally a cross-type building. Arab-Turkish invasions severely damaged it. In the 10th century, during the reign of King George II of Abkhazia, the church was thoroughly redesigned: the outer walls were added, the neck of the new dome was built, so it is no longer reminiscent of a cross-type monument from the outside. The western chapel is also from the 10th century. An undamaged faceted shelf, with a deep mark on both sides, is preserved only in the east. The floor is covered with tiles that are radially arranged in the center. The communion table was made in the XVIII century. The small fragment of the mosaic left in the lunette (arch) of the West Gate (the arch) with the image of the Virgin Mary holding the Infant Jesus belongs to the era of the construction of the monument. In the upper part of the western building, there is a large relief image with an old Georgian inscription (X century).
The temple has been painted many times. Only a few of the frescoes of the original VII century are preserved. The frescoes of the XVI-XVII centuries, on which the Chkondideli figures are depicted, are relatively better preserved. (georgiantravelguide.com)
The map of Georgia is in lower right corner.
100 Lari 2020 in UV.
Revers:
The Georgian National Opera and Ballet Theater of Tbilisi (Georgian: თბილისის ოპერისა და ბალეტის სახელმწიფო აკადემიური თეატრი), formerly known as the Tiflis Imperial Theater, is an opera house situated on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, Georgia. Founded in 1851, Tbilisi Opera is the main opera house of Georgia and one of the oldest such establishments in Eastern Europe.
Since 1896, the theater has resided in an exotic Moorish Revival edifice originally constructed by Victor Johann Gottlieb Schröter, a prominent architect of Baltic German origin. Although definitively Oriental in its appearance, the building's layout, foyers and the main hall are that of a typical European opera house. Since its foundation, the theater has been damaged by several fires and underwent major rehabilitation works under Soviet and Georgian leadership; the most recent restoration effort concluded in January 2016, having taken six years and costing approximately $40 million donated by a Georgian business foundation.
The opera house is one of the centers of cultural life in Tbilisi and was once home to Zacharia Paliashvili, the Georgian national composer whose name the institution has carried since 1937. The Opera and Ballet Theater also houses the State Ballet of Georgia under the leadership of internationally renowned Georgian ballerina Nina Ananiashvili. In recent years it has hosted opera stars such as Montserrat Caballé and José Carreras, while also frequently serving as a venue for national celebrations and high-profile receptions.
The fragment from the Score of Georgian national anthem, to the right of the theater image, is the Georgian national anthem.
Georgian coat of arms is in top right corner.
The coat of arms of Georgia is one of the national symbols of the republic. It is partially based on the medieval arms of the Georgian royal house and features Saint George, the traditional patron saint of Georgia. In addition to St. George, the original proposal included additional heraldic elements found on the royal seal, such as the seamless robe of Jesus, but this was deemed excessively religious and was not incorporated into the final version.
The State coat of arms of Georgia is a heraldic shield, on its red field is depicted a silver rider on a silver horse and with a silver spear ending with a golden cross, Saint George with a golden halo, striking a silver dragon. The shield is crowned with the Iverian (Georgian) crown. The supporters are two golden lions, standing on a compartment of stylized grape vine ornament. The compartment is embellished with a silver-purple motto ribbon (face is silver, back is purple). On the silver field of the ribbon with black Mkhedruli letters is written the motto "ძალა ერთობაშია" ("Strength is in unity"). On the ribbon, in the beginning and the end of the inscription, are depicted purpure heraldic crosses.
Although the shield is officially described as purpure, it is often depicted as red.
Comments:
Designer of Lari sign: professional artist-ceramist Malkhaz Shvelidze.
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