Ethiopian Church Icons Smithsonian CC0 with Digital Variations by Ken Harley

Ethiopian Orthodox

Label Text: 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.
Description: 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.; 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.; Side with two crosses: Crucifixion; on door: ascent from Purgatory, inscription.
Provenance: Joseph and Patricia Brumit, Sun City West, 1968 to 2004
Exhibition History: BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006