Georgian art

Georgian art (Georgian: ქართული ხელოვნება) has evolved for millennia. With roots in rich archaic and ethnic tradition, Georgian art has grown along with the development of the Georgian statehood, starting from the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia. The location of Georgia on the crossroads of Asia and Europe has brought travelers, merchants, missionaries and conquerors of all kinds and creeds, and defined the country's cultural and artistic environment throughout its history. Georgian art tradition has thus experienced influences from Mesopotamian, Anatolian, Greek, Persian, Roman and Byzantine art throughout antiquity. It has further grown within the framework of Christian ecclesiastical and middle-eastern art of the Middle Ages, and ultimately it has evolved in the context of European and Russian art from the 19th century onwards.