Diptych with Twelve Apostles & St. Paul

c. 1700 · Gondar (Begemder)

Medieval · artifact

About this work

Two-panel diptych in tempera on wood and textile depicting thirteen holy men — Christ's apostles and St Paul — sized for an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church or elite home.

Original catalogue wording

Two-panel diptych in tempera on wood and textile depicting thirteen holy men — Christ's apostles and St Paul — sized for an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian church or elite home. Painted c. 1700, presumably at Gondär, in the bold, colorful style associated with royal court workshops of the early 1600s to mid-1700s, by the painter Wäldä Maryam or someone he trained. Captions in Geʿez identify each saint by name, and the figures wear fashionable clothing imported from India.

Source classification: icon painting

Date
c. 1700
Object type
Icons & panel paintings
Recorded place
Gondar (Begemder)
Holding institution
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Accession
2023.4