The Indigenous and the Foreign in Christian Ethiopian Art: On Portuguese-Ethiopian Contacts in the 16thû17th Centuries

by Boavida,Isabel; Ramos,Manuel Jo

• ISBN13: 9780754650379
• ISBN10: 0754650375
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-07-28
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In the rural plateaux of northern Ethiopia, one can still find scattered ruins of monumental buildings that are evidently alien to the country's ancient architectural tradition. This little-known and rarely studied architectural heritage is a silent witness to a fascinating if equivocal cultural encounter that took place in the 16th-17th centuries between Catholic Europeans and Orthodox Ethiopians. The Indigenous and the Foreign in Christian Ethiopian Art presents a selection of papers derived from the 5th Conference on the History of Ethiopian Art, which for the first time systematically approached this heritage.The book explores the enduring impact of this encounter on the artistic, religious and political life of Ethiopia, an impact that has not been readily acknowledged, not least because the public conversion of the early 17th-century Emperor Susïnyus to Catholicism resulted in a bloody civil war shrouded in religious intolerance. Bringing together work by key researchers in the field, these studies open up a particularly rich period in the history of Ethiopia and cast new light on the complexities of cultural and religious (mis)encounters between Africa and Europe.

Author Biography

Isabel Boavida, Instituto de Cultura Espanhola, Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa Manuel Joao Ramos, Departamento de Antropologia, ISCTE, Lisboa Stephen Bell, Independent researcher LaVerle Berry, The Library of Congress, Washington DC Claire Bosc-Tiesse, University of Paris-I Sorbonne, Centre de Recherches Africaines Ian Campbell, World Bank consultant and private researcher Stanislaw Chojnacki, Independent researcher Girma Fisseha, Staatliches Museum fur Volkerkunde, Munich Michael Gervers, Department of Humanities, University of Toronto at Scarborough Fasil Giorghis, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Technology Faculty, Addis Ababa University Martha H. Henze, Independent researcher Paul B. Henze, Independent researcher Richard Pankhurst, Society of Friends of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University Tania C. Tribe, Department of Art and Archaeology, SOAS, University of London Anais Wion, University of Paris-I Sorbonne, Centre de Recherches Africaines

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	v
List of Contributors	xiii
Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction	xvii
PART ONE Architecture and Urbanism
A Tale of Four Cities: Late-16th and Early-17th Century Ethiopian Capitals and their Turkish, Portuguese and Indian Connections	3	(13)
Richard Pankhurst
Ethiopian and Jesuit Monumental Stone Architecture in the Lake Tana Basin: A Preliminary Assessment	16	(14)
LaVerle Berry
Foreign Influences and Local Contribution in Gondarian Architecture	30	(7)
Fasil Giorghis
Portuguese and Indian Influences on the Architecture of the Lake Tana Region: An Inquiry into the Role of Ganata Iyasus	37	(12)
Ian Campbell
The Monastery of Martula Maryam: Questions and Speculations about its Architecture and Ornamentation	49	(12)
Paul B. Henze
PART TWO Icon and Mural Paintings
Place, Space and Representation in 18th-Century Gondarine Painting	61	(12)
Tania C. Tribe
Ethiopian Warrior Saints in 18th-Century Miniatures and their Significance in the Cultural History of Ethiopia	73	(10)
Stanislaw Chojnacki
The Use of Occidental Engravings in Ethiopian Painting in the 17th and 18th Centuries	83	(20)
Claire Bosc-Tiesse
An Analysis of 17th-Century Ethiopian Pigments	103	(10)
Anais Wion
Ahmad Grann and the Portuguese in Ethiopian Folk Painting	113	(8)
Girma Fisseha
PART THREE Decorative Arts
The Portuguese Import of Luxury Textiles to Ethiopia in the 16th and 17th Centuries and their Subsequent Artistic Influence	121	(14)
Michael Gervers
Imported Textiles in Ethiopian Traditions	135	(11)
Martha H. Henze
The Cross brought to Goa and Portugal by Libna Dingil's Envoy Mathew	146	(6)
Isabel Boavida
A Military Helmet and Mail Shirt at Dabra Warq, Goggam: Two Historic Objects of Probable Earlier Portuguese Provenance	152	(9)
Stephen Bell
Bibliography	161	(16)
Index	177