id: 160940 accession number: 1999.212 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1999.212 updated: 2023-05-05 11:01:41.257000 Single Leaf from a Gospel Book with a Portrait of St. Luke, c. 1440–1480. Central Ethiopia, 15th century. Ink and tempera on vellum; sheet: 37 x 25 cm (14 9/16 x 9 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1999.212 title: Single Leaf from a Gospel Book with a Portrait of St. Luke title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1440–1480 creation date earliest: 1440 creation date latest: 1480 current location: 105 Byzantine creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: Central Ethiopia, 15th century technique: ink and tempera on vellum department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations type: Manuscript find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Sheet: 37 x 25 cm (14 9/16 x 9 13/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: ሥእለ ፡ ቅዱስ ፡ ሉቃስ ፡ ዘዜነወ ፡ ባአምስለ ፡ ላሀም ፡ ጸሎቱ ፡ ወበረከቱ። ተሀሉ ፡ ምስሌነ፡ አሜን translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE (Bruce Ferrini Rare Books, Akron, Oh), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art date: -1999 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh date: 1999- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The majority of Ethiopian manuscripts are written in Ge’ez, the ancient liturgical language of Ethiopia. digital description: wall description: Christianity arrived in Ethiopia during the 4th century, well before reaching northern Europe. Typical of icon and manuscript painting in Ethiopia, this leaf is decorated with bright colors and a joyous interplay of geometric pattern. The full-page miniature depicts the evangelist Luke, with his symbol, the Ox, within the arch above. The short text is in geez (the ancient Ethiopic language), and consists of the opening lines of the gospel of Luke. All manuscript and icon painting in Ethiopia was confined to monasteries; the painting style of this leaf relates it to the Ewostathian monastic community of Central Ethiopia. The artists of this community rose to prominence under the scholar-emperor Zara Yaeqob (1434–1468), who commissioned many of them to produce books and icons for the court. This leaf draws its inspiration from the most important monastic painter, Fre Seyon, who was enormously influential between about 1450 and 1500. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Fliegel, Stephen "St. Luke in Ethiopia" The Cleveland Museum of Art Member's Magazine (April 2000) page number: pp. 4-5 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAMM2000-04/page/4/ Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: Selected Works of African Art. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. page number: p. 16 fig. 5 url: Heldman, Marilyn E. “Legends of Lālibalā: The Development of an Ethiopian Pilgrimage Site.” Anthropology and Aestetics 27 (Spring 1995) page number: pp. 25-38 url: Paris (France), and Fundació Caixa de Girona. L'arche éthiopienne: art chrétien d'Éthiopie : 27 septembre 2000-7 janvier 2001, Pavillon des arts. Paris: Paris musées, 2000. page number: Cat. No. 60 url: Heldman, Marilyn Eiseman, S. C. Munro-Hay, and Roderick Grierson. African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993. page number: p. 190 url: Heldman, Marilyn. “An Éwostāthian Style and the Gundā Gundē Style in Fifteenth-Century Ethiopian Manuscript Illumination.” Proceedings of the First International Conference on the History of Ethiopian Art (London 1989) page number: pp. 5-14 url: Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Rare Chinese Paintings, Baroque Porcelain Plaque and Other New Acquisitions Exhibited with Hanging Scrolls,” December 20, 1999, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4305 Mercier, Jacques. Art of Ethiopia: From the Origins to the Golden Century (330-1527). 2021. page number: fig 217 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.212/1999.212_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.212/1999.212_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.212/1999.212_full.tif