Ebook: Major themes in Ethiopian painting. Indigenous developments, the influence of foreign models and their adaptation from the 13th to the 19th century

The traditional painting of Christian Ethiopia is virtually unknown except to a small group of interested people. Ethiopian works of art are virtually absent in art galleries and museums of Europe and America. 1 The achievements of Ethiopians have not been mentioned in publications dealing with the Byzantine world though their paintings preserved the Byzantine features as long as other branches of Eastern Christendom.

The studies published in this volume are intended to introduce to a wider public some of the major themes of the Christian art of Ethiopia. In each study the history is given of a particular theme and its relation is traced to Eastern as well as Western art. The quest is also initiated for the African background of Ethiopian painting. It is hoped that the many illustrations which are included will make the material more understandable.

The book is based mainly on unpublished material. The collection of the material started in the late 1960s during my lengthy residence in Ethiopia and is the result of my involvement in building up the art collection of the Museum at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa. Being its first curator from 1963 to 1975, I had the pleasant task of starting and developing the collection and on that occasion I had the opportunity of inspecting and recording a large number of paintings which then passed through the art market of Addis Ababa. Also I made many trips to Ethiopia's remote countryside to study wall paintings, icons and illuminated manuscripts in the churches and monasteries. The decade of the 1960s was particularly significant for our perception of Ethiopian painting because many works of art which had been previously unknown came to light. I was fortunate either to witness or take an active part in these discoveries