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From the collection of National Museum of African Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
The rich colors, especially the green and deep blue, are typical of this time period in Ethiopian icon painting. The emphasis on Mary's hand gesture, the Christ child's book and the shawl's decorative folds and star and cross ornaments derive from a Jesuit copy of an Italian engraving of a Santa Maria Maggiore icon. Mary's handkerchief, however, is an Ethiopian status symbol.
National Museum of African Art’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineIcon. Late 17th-early 18th century. Ethiopian Orthodox. National Museum of African Art, Gift of Ciro R. Taddeo. CC0.
