25 research outputs found

    Towards a Comparative Framework for Research on the Long Cycle in Ethiopic Gospels: Some Preliminary Observations

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    This article argues that it is possible to improve our understanding of Ethiopian manuscript illumination of the early Solomonic period by adopting a systematic comparative approach. It does so by presenting a case study which analyses and compares the iconography of two examples of the long cycle dating to the second half of the fourteenth century. This comparison shows how technical skills and artistic choices contributed to the shaping of Ethiopian manuscript illumination, and in doing so it sheds some light on the artistic practices of early Solomonic illuminators

    Evidence for the History of Early Solomonic Ethiopia from Tämben: Part II: Yoḥanni Däbrä ʿAśa

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    This contribution continues the series of articles dedicated to the traditions and decorations of some monastic sites located in Qwälla Tämben (Central Zone of Tǝgray, Ethiopia) by focusing on the monastery and church of Abba Yoḥanni Däbrä ʿAśa. The paper presents data collected during two fieldwork visits in 2018 and 2019. It describes the early and later history of the monastery by considering written and material evidence, as well as local oral traditions. In particular, an analysis of the manuscript tradition of the Life of abba Yoḥanni – who is deeply associated with the site despite being neither its founder nor its abbot – provides new evidence about the relationship between holy men and monasteries; while a study of the wall paintings and architectural features of the church sheds light on the significance and history of visual culture in early Solomonic Ethiopia

    The ʿəqā bet: An Indigenous East African Repository

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    Illuminated Leaves from an Ethiopic Gospel Book in the Newark Museum and in the Walters Art Museum

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    This article shows that a group of loose folios kept in two different institutions, the Newark Museum and The Walters Art Museum, originally belonged to an Ethiopic Gospel book dating to the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century. The study examines and analyses the Canon Tables and miniatures that once belonged to this Gospel book to draw conclusions concerning both their features and the broader history of Gospel illumination in medieval Ethiopia
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