Icon
date: label: Date
content: 15th-16th century
name: label: Maker
content: Ethiopian Orthodox
notes: label: Label Text
content: This is an important Ethiopian Orthodox icon that was once owned by a parsonage. On the proper right panel it depicts the gruesome scene of St. George being chopped into pieces below the twelve apostles and the saint himself killing a dragon. The proper left panel features the Virgin Mary and child with an angel above each shoulder.
label: Label Text
content: It has been suggested that this diptych is strongly influenced by, or directly copied from, a triptych by Nicolo Brancaleon, an Italian Renaissance painter. However, the chopping tool used here is particularly Ethiopian, as is the depiction of the Virgin and Child, lacking among known Brancaleon works.
label: Label Text
content: Ethiopian paintings influenced by European art are, according to Stanislaw Chojnacki, of two kinds: paintings that directly relate to an identified painting, and paintings which borrow themes and details from Western art. In both, however, the Western forms have been simplified to the Ethiopian mode of expression. This diptych is of the first example, which, though more rare, illustrates the impact of the expatriate European artist. Ethiopian artists-in-training preferred to copy paintings, and perhaps this diptych came from a European workshop in Ethiopia, made directly from an existing painting by Nicolo Brancaleon, as suggested by Chojnacki.
label: Label Text
content: Chojnacki, Stanislaw. 1983. Major Themes in Ethiopian Painting: Indigenous Developments, The Influence of Foreign Models and their Adaptation from the 13th to the 19th Century. Wiesbaden: Steiner (Series: Äthiopistische Forschungen; -- Bd. 10), pp. 418-419.
label: Description
content: Diptych painting on wood of Madonna in a blue dress on a red background on one side, and St. George, disciple and a martyred saint in pieces on the other.
label: Provenance
content: Joseph and Patricia Brumit, Sun City West, 1968 to 2004
label: Published References
content: Chojnacki, Stanislaw. 1983. Major Themes in Ethiopian Painting: Indigenous Developments, The Influence of Foreign Models and their Adaptation from the 13th to the 19th Century. Wiesbaden: Steiner (Series: Äthiopistische Forschungen; -- Bd. 10), no. 204.
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: horse
label: Topic
content: male
label: Topic
content: female
label: Topic
content: angel
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African Art Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Joseph and Patricia Brumit, Conservation of this artwork supported by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African Art
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2004-7-2
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Wood, paint
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 52 × 66.8 × 3 cm, 5.4 kg (20 1/2 × 26 5/16 × 1 3/16 in., 12 lb.)