Ewost'atéwos and Eight Disciples

Ewost'atéwos and Eight Disciples, late 17th century
Ethiopia
Wood, tempera

H. 22 in. (56 cm)
Louis V. Bell Fund, 2006 (2006.98)

This highly original icon is a tribute to the revered Ethiopian visionary Ewost'atéwos, who was born about 1273. The House of Ewost'atéwos is one of the two major monastic orders of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Ethiopia's earliest state adopted Christianity as its official religion in the fourth century. During the next two centuries, foreign missionaries disseminated Christianity beyond Ethiopia's elite circles and founded monastic centers in the remote northern regions of Ethiopia and Eritrea. The abbots of those centers became the chief figures in the church's local hierarchy. In the fourteenth century, Saint Ewost'atéwos founded several more monasteries in northern Ethiopia before violent doctrinal disputes led to his exile to Egypt and then Armenia, where he died.
The eight acolytes surrounding Ewost'atéwos are depicted to underscore their devotion and allegiance. Only the vibrant, swirling patterns of their colorful robes animate and distinguish the otherwise identical figures. The painting's considerable scale suggests that it was the property of a monastery, whose historical origins and ties to neighboring communities it recorded. According to Jacques Mercier, an authority on Ethiopian culture, this is the only known icon from northern Ethiopia dedicated to a monastic genealogy.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Processional Cross

Processional Cross, 16th century (ca. 1500)
Ethiopia, Tigray region; Amharic
Wood, tin

H. 18 x W. 8 1/2 in. (45.7 x 21.6 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1999 (1999.103)

This cross was created in the province of Tigray, near the Red Sea, the birthplace of Ethiopia's earliest kingdom and of Christianity in Africa. Works in wood are especially rare within the relatively small corpus of Ethiopian Christian art predating the seventeenth century. The majority of earlier Ethiopian processional crosses that have survived are cast in bronze or silver.
Underlying this exceptional object's aesthetic is a technically accomplished fusion of wood sculpture and metalwork inspired by Byzantine and Islamic design. The highly unusual interplay of materials affords rich tonal contrasts and skillfully integrates the solidity of the carved wooden structure with the finely inscribed inlays. The linear accent of the metallic threads at once lightens the density of the wooden structure and highlights the intricacy of the work's design elements.
In the Ethiopian church, the wooden cross is perceived as having been sanctified by Christ's blood, which conferred upon it infinite power to heal and to bless. Foliate and organic interlace designs, branching from the foot of the cross, are interpreted as symbolizing the Tree of Paradise, and thus a vibrant life-giving force. Commissioned by Ethiopian royalty, such works were presented to important monasteries to be carried in liturgical processions.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Page from an Illuminated Gospel

Page from an Illuminated Gospel, late 14th century
Ethiopia, Highland region
Parchment (vellum), wood (acacia), tempera, ink 

H. 16 1/2 in. (41.9 cm)
Rogers Fund, 1998 (1998.66)

This illuminated manuscript of the Four Gospels was created in the late fourteenth to early fifteenth century at an Ethiopian monastic center. Its full-page paintings on vellum depict New Testament scenes from the life of Christ and portraits of the evangelists. The text is in Ge'ez, the classical Ethiopian language. Typical of Ethiopian painting, the imagery is two-dimensional and linear. Heads are seen frontally; bodies are often in profile. The artist abbreviated the facial features and treated the human form as a columnar mass, articulated in bold black and red lines.
The Four Gospels are the essence of Ethiopian Christianity. This manuscript was likely kissed, displayed during processions, and placed on the altar to mark important events on the church calendar, such as feasts or holy days. Recent research suggests that a member of Ethiopia's ruling elite may have commissioned this manuscript of Dabra Hayg Estifanos monastery for presentation to his or her favored church or monastery. Brief notations indicate that the church in question was dedicated to the Archangel Michael.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Double-Sided Gospel Leaf

Double-Sided Gospel Leaf, first half of 14th century
Ethiopia; Tigray region
Tempera on parchment

11 x 7 1/2 in. (27.8 x 19 cm)
Purchase, Oscar de la Renta Ltd. Gift, 2005 (2006.100)

The Tigray region of Ethiopia converted to Christianity in the fourth century and became a very important ally of the Byzantine empire, ruled from Constantinople (Istanbul), in controlling the trade routes to India. Tigray also maintained contacts with other Christian communities of the eastern Mediterranean, including those in Syria and Egypt. The compelling images on this double-sided leaf are from a group of early fourteenth-century Gospels that feature a revival of motifs that reached Ethiopia from the eastern Mediterranean, probably in the seventh century.Both sides of the leaf are inscribed in Ge'ez, the ancient language of Ethiopia. On the front is a dramatic octagonal Fountain of Life flanked by peacocks, which are identified in the inscriptions as "ostriches" (royal birds in Ethiopia), and gazellelike "babula." The text within the domed space refers to the arrangement of the Eusebian Canon Tables, or index to the Gospels, which preceded the image in the original manuscript. On the reverse, the Crucifixion is represented by a monumental jeweled cross topped by a Lamb of God, symbol of Christ's sacrifice. At the sides are the two thieves bound to their crosses. Other leaves from this Gospel are in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Processional Cross

Processional Cross, 14th–15th century, before 1400 (?)
Ethiopia, Lalibela
Brass (cast)

H. 10 1/2 in. (26.7 cm)
Purchase, Elaine Rosenberg Gift and funds from various donors, 1998 (1998.37)

The history of Christianity in Ethiopia is longstanding, dating back to the fourth century A.D. At that time, King Ezana, ruler of Aksum, made it the court religion. In spite of the antiquity of Ethiopian Christian art, however, processional crosses antedating the seventeenth century are rare due to sixteenth-century Islamic incursions that devastated the region.
Crosses such as this were commonly given to important monasteries by Ethiopian monarchs; in return, the clergy would remember the donors in prayers. Like many early Ethiopian crosses, this one was cast in brass using the lost-wax method. Since lost-wax objects must be made individually and are necessarily unique, this casting technique may have encouraged the experimentation that has yielded a spectacular diversity of Ethiopian metal crosses.
This processional cross has short side arms and longer vertical arms, features it shares with related Coptic and Byzantine traditions. Later crosses would equalize the length of the arms and fill in the gaps between them, almost dissolving the cross form into a diamond shape that was punctuated with interlacing patterns. The beginnings of the latter tendency can be seen here, particularly in the negative spaces that replicate the cross form at its three terminal points and the rectangular openings within its arms. Openings like these were both practical and aesthetic; they allowed crosses to be made larger without added weight, and when used in processions made impressive silhouettes against the open sky. At the base of the metal cross, just above its point of attachment to a long staff (no longer extant), are a pair of loops that served an additional purpose. These would have provided a place to affix the colored cloths that trailed from processional crosses while they were in use. A subtle counterpoint to these open spaces, shallow engraved lines thinly trace the stepped shape of the cross and enliven its broad planes with geometric patterns.
Until more recent times, Ethiopian processional crosses favored abstract openwork patterns and images of the Virgin and Child above the depiction of the Crucifixion scene. In part this reflects the view of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which does not see the cross solely in terms of Christ's Passion but also as the "Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden" (Genesis 2:9) and a vehicle of God's blessing to man.
Processional crosses play an active role in Christian religious life in Ethiopia, where churches commonly have one or more. They are prominently featured during services and processions that honor holy days such as the Epiphany or the feast of the Finding of the True Cross. Held aloft by clergy wearing ceremonial attire and accompanied by colorful umbrellas, these crosses imbue sacred occasions with reverential majesty.

Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art