Wooden triptych

F. S. Mosso 20/11/1909 Genova - donazione

ambito etiope

Anonimo

1501 - 1600 - XVI

C.A. 787

Unità di misura: cm; Altezza: 42; Larghezza: 47.5

Etiopia

tempera su tela incollata su tavola

Triptych from the Church of Cherseberg in Adigrat, a city in Ethiopia, capital of the province of Agame, in the Tigray region. Among the subjects depicted there is a Ras: this title, one of the most noble of the Ethiopian imperial court (equivalent to the European duke), probably originated in the 16th century; it was initially attributed to the feudal lords of the major provinces of Ethiopia, while later it was assigned to the dignitaries of rank immediately below the negus. Some dignitaries of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tevahedo Church also had the right to bear this title. Wooden triptych, consisting of a tempera painting on canvas applied to a panel. The work presents the classic medieval construction that includes a wooden support on which a canvas, made of a cotton fibre, has been applied (incamottatura).
The preparation, made of plaster, also typical of medieval Italian construction, was first spread on the canvas in a single layer and then was applied the pictorial film, probably in tempera. The pictorial film presents pigments in use since the most ancient times. The enamel, deriving from the processing of glass, the Chrysocolla, also found in Egyptian tombs, the Cinnabar and the lead or arsenic yellows which have always been used in painting deriving from the most remote artistic history.
The triptych presents these representations:
on the right, Saint with two devotees;
scene of the Crucifixion with Saint John and the Sorrowful Madonna;
in the center, Madonna with child;
on the left, Christ crowned with thorns; Saint George wounding the devil; Ras with two military leaders and two tigers.