Albert Dilbaryan, known as Dilbo, emerged from the generation of the 1960s. His pictorial mise-en-scènes, shaped by a melancholic yet romantic worldview, stand apart from both the dominant styles of his contemporaries and the broader post-Stalinist canon. Though he never openly opposed Soviet ideology, Dilbo remained a quiet dissenter within his own “artistic shell.” For him, depicting unrealistic or fantastical imagery became a means for escaping the constraints of a collectivistic society.

In 1960s Tbilisi, the name Elguja Amashukeli quickly became famous. It was impossible to be in the city without hearing about him, and even more impossible not to notice his public works. They became instant landmarks, and have remained as symbols of the city ever since.

King Erekle was a son of King of Kakheti Teimuraz II. King Teimuraz II ruled Kakheti from 1709 to 1744, first as a governor, and then as King of Kartli from 1744. Interestingly, Teimuraz’s father, Erekle I (1688-1709), and brother, Constantine II (1722-1732), were not distinguished by their devotion to Christian religion or high ideals. Indeed, their biographies show that power was more important to them than the well-being of their subjects or peaceful relations with the neighboring rulers. Yet, it appears that, unlike his father and brother, Teimuraz was firmly determined to defend Christianity and establish an alliance with Russia so as to be able to defend his kingdom against its Muslim neighbors. Erekle II’s mother, Tamar, was the daughter of King Vakhtang VI (1716-24), so the prince, born in Telavi on November 7, 1720, united both the Kartlian and Kakhetian branches of the Bagrationi dynasty of Eastern Georgia.