Ethiopian Gospel Book
Date:
mid-fourteenth century
Dimensions:
29.3 × 18.4 cm
Description:
This Gospel book from Ethiopia (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS eth. 32) features, at the beginning of its 207 folios, ten pages of elaborately framed canon tables that emphasize the harmony of the Gospels. These are followed by an image of a rotunda ("tempietto"), also meant to underscore harmony: the caption in the center says "Arrangement of the order concerning how the sayings of the four Gospels agree." This tempietto is followed by three scenes from the life of Christ. Finally, dispersed appropriately throughout the book are four framed "portraits" of the evangelists preceding each of their Gospels.
The three Christological scenes are the Crucifixion, the Marys at the empty tomb (an angel perches on top), and a Christ in Majesty/Resurrection. This trio of scenes is typical of Ethiopian Gospels produced in the middle third of the fourteenth century. The Crucifixion image does not depict Jesus, only the two flanking thieves, two Roman soldiers, and the symbolic Lamb of God. This iconography was common before the eighth century, after which Christ is shown on the cross. The empty cross here suggests that the artist relied on older models, perhaps to evoke the earliest period of Ethiopian Christianity, when the rulers of Aksum embraced the faith (mid-fourth century).
Where in Ethiopia the manuscript was painted is unknown, but a note indicates that it was given by Negus (emperor) Säyfä Ar'ad (r. 1344–71), of the Solomonic dynasty, to a monastery church at Qosqam (Deir el-Muharraq, Egypt). This was a sacred site because the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) were thought to have stayed there when they fled to Egypt to escape King Herod (recounted in Matthew 2:13–15 and several apocryphal narratives). In size and pictorial contents, the book in Paris is closely related to several others of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries.
The three Christological scenes are the Crucifixion, the Marys at the empty tomb (an angel perches on top), and a Christ in Majesty/Resurrection. This trio of scenes is typical of Ethiopian Gospels produced in the middle third of the fourteenth century. The Crucifixion image does not depict Jesus, only the two flanking thieves, two Roman soldiers, and the symbolic Lamb of God. This iconography was common before the eighth century, after which Christ is shown on the cross. The empty cross here suggests that the artist relied on older models, perhaps to evoke the earliest period of Ethiopian Christianity, when the rulers of Aksum embraced the faith (mid-fourth century).
Where in Ethiopia the manuscript was painted is unknown, but a note indicates that it was given by Negus (emperor) Säyfä Ar'ad (r. 1344–71), of the Solomonic dynasty, to a monastery church at Qosqam (Deir el-Muharraq, Egypt). This was a sacred site because the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary, and Joseph) were thought to have stayed there when they fled to Egypt to escape King Herod (recounted in Matthew 2:13–15 and several apocryphal narratives). In size and pictorial contents, the book in Paris is closely related to several others of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
10
Repository and Online Resources:
• See the whole manuscript on the Gallica website.
• A closely related Gospel book can be viewed on the website of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore.
Image Credits:
Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) /Gallica
