Between Alexandria and Rome? Reflections on Artistic Circulation and Cross-Cultural Interaction in Ethiopian Painting in the Fifteenth Century
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | CONVIVIUM-EXCHANGES AND INTERACTIONS IN THE ARTS OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE BYZANTIUM AND THE MEDITERRANEAN |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Keywords | Ethiopian panel painting; fifteenth-century; Florence; Madonna and Child; Fare Sayon; Zara Yaaqob |
| Description | The paper considers the appropriation of motifs borrowed from European visual culture in Ethiopian panel paintings under the rule of king Zär'a Ya'eqob (1434-1468) in relation to a crucial crosscultural dialogue between Ethiopia and Mediterranean region. It examines the different motivations at work in the process of visual encounters from both the Ethiopian and the Mediterranean cultural perspective. Its conclusion suggests that appropriation of foreign motifs, as well as forms and their assimilation into local visual tradition by 15th century Ethiopian artists, were conscious and crucial parts of visual rhethoric used for representing the King of Ethiopia. |