Diptych with Twelve Apostles & St. Paul
Medium
Tempera, wood, textile
Dimensions
39 × 51 cm
Classification
Painting
Department
African Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund
Accession Number
2023.4
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
gender unknown
About this artwork
Depicting 13 holy men, this diptych (two-panel painting) is sized for an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church or elite home. It is painted in the bold, colorful style associated with royal court workshops from the early 1600s to the mid-1700s. Painter Wäldä Maryam (or someone he trained) set this scene of Christ’s apostles in the context of his homeland. Each saint wears fashionable clothing imported from India. While they are posed and dressed similarly to emphasize their group identity, the art...