Icon Triptych: Ewostatewos and Eight of His Disciples
Unknown Artist
late 17th century
Medium
Wood, tempera, cord
Dimensions
On mount: H. 27 9/16 × W. 22 3/16 × D. 4 3/4 in. (70 × 56.3 × 12.1 cm)
Classification
Wood-Paintings
Culture
Amhara peoples
Department
Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Louis V. Bell Fund, 2006
Accession Number
2006.98
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking Icon Triptych from 17th-century Ethiopia, created by an unknown Amhara artist, honors Ewostatewos, a revered Ethiopian Orthodox saint founder of the Ewostatewian monastic order, alongside eight of his disciples. Crafted as a portable three-panel folding artwork (70 × 56.3 × 12.1 cm when mounted), it served as a devotional object for personal prayer or liturgical use, embodying the deep spiritual traditions of the Amhara peoples in the Ethiopian highlands. The medium—wood panels coated in vibrant tempera paints and secured with cord—highlights longstanding techniques rooted in By...