Illuminated Manuscripts from Medieval Ethiopia

The Met has two remarkable illuminated manuscripts from medieval Ethiopia, which I just discovered this week. This one contains the four canonical gospels in Amharic, along with twenty full-page illuminations. It was compiled and illuminated at a monastic center in northern Ethiopia some time around 1400.

Ethiopian art was obviously influenced by Byzantium, but it also drawns on local traditions.

I find in these works a fascinating mix of the familiar and the strange, of sophistication and naivete, that draws my eye and charges my imagination.

I love what the artist did with the standard ancient trope of the arched table. 

And then there is this strange work, an illustrated copy of a devotional poem called The Organ of Mary.

This looks much more African to me, especially the textile-like colors and patterns of the decoration. The scribe of this work signed his name, Baselyos.

The illuminator also signed his name, using a mark that has been found in other manuscripts. This used to be interpreted as a night heron, and thus our painter was dubbed The Night Heron Master. These days people think the bird is the ground hornbill, so now we have the Ground Hornbill Master.

Under whatever name, a fascinating fusion of classical and African traditions.