Existing comment:
Pious.
Christianity is deep into its second millennium as an African religion.
Historically home to followers of all three major monotheistic religions -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- Ethiopia's Coptic Church (c. 331–340 C.E.) nevertheless predates even Rome (380 C.E.) as a state religion.
This masterful 17th-century diptych icon is a highly charged devotional work, depicting multiple moments in the life of Jesus and the Holy Family. The artist, working in what is known as the Early Gondarene style, situates these figures in a world of Ethiopian references: Mary spinning thread seated on a three-legged stool, genna (Ethiopian field hockey), the style of the three yellow crowns, the lidded food basket on Salome's head, and the depiction of the Temple in Jerusalem as a miniature Ethiopian church.
Scenes depicted include: (left, from top), the Annunciation and visitation of Elizabeth (L) to Mary (R), Jesus asleep in the manger, boys playing genna, and the Magi delivering a gift to Jesus; (right, from top), Mary entering the Temple, the flight to Egypt with Joseph and Salome, the death of Mary, and Mary's Assumption into heaven.
An object of veneration and devotion, this icon partook in Ethiopia's long, ongoing history of pious participation in the Christian world. |