Icon
date: label: Date
content: Mid-17th century
name: label: Maker
content: Ethiopian Orthodox
notes: label: Label Text
content: Devout individuals have commissioned icons (wood panel paintings) as gifts to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church since the 15th century. The icon was believed to carry the peoples' prayers for mercy and healing directly to the depicted saint--most often Mary with the infant Christ. The archangels, Michael and Gabriel, stand next to Mary, and Saint George often rides a white horse on the opposite panel. Small icons may have been worn around the neck suspended in cloth or leather bags or by a cord through a wood cylinder.
label: Description
content: Double sided pendant icon with a single suspension lug with a burned hole, an overall exterior carved with geometric motifs and fiber hinged doors. Side carved roundel: Madonna & child flanked by Archangels Michael and Gabriel; on door: St. George and inscription. Side with two crosses: Crucifixion; on door: ascent from Purgatory, inscription.
label: Description
content: Side carved roundel: Madonna & child flanked by Archangels Michael and Gabriel; on door: St. George and inscription. Side with two crosses: Crucifixion; on door: ascent from Purgatory, inscription.
label: Description
content: Side with two crosses: Crucifixion; on door: ascent from Purgatory, inscription.
label: Provenance
content: Joseph and Patricia Brumit, Sun City West, 1968 to 2004
label: Exhibition History
content: BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006
label: Content Statement
content: As part of our commitment to accessibility and transparency, the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art is placing its collection records online. Please note that some records are incomplete (missing image or content descriptions) and others reflect out-of-date language or systems of thought regarding how to engage with and discuss cultural heritage and the specifics of individual artworks. If you see content requiring immediate action, we will do our best to address it in a timely manner. Please email nmafacuratorial@si.edu if you have any questions.
label: Image Requests
content: High resolution digital images are not available for some objects. For publication quality photography and permissions, please contact the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives at https://africa.si.edu/research/eliot-elisofon-photographic-archives/
place: label: Geography
content: Ethiopia
topic: label: Topic
content: equestrian
label: Topic
content: mother and child
label: Topic
content: Writing
label: Topic
content: cross
label: Topic
content: horse
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Joseph and Patricia Brumit
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2004-7-6
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Wood, paint, string
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 11.6 x 17.1 x 2.1 cm (4 9/16 x 6 3/4 x 13/16 in.) (open)