Details

LOT 1784

Ethiopian 'Miracle of Mary' Manuscript Leaf

CIRCA 1500 A.D.

10 1/2 x 9 1/4 in. (13 grams, 26.5 x 23.5 cm).

Vellum leaf with pricked guidelines for placement of two columns of black-ink text in Ge'ez script with red detailing; recto with nineteen lines of text; verso with text and polychrome painted scene of figures beside a house and distribution of drink. [No Reserve]

Provenance

Acquired on the New York art market, circa 2000.
Ex central London gallery.

Literature

Cf. Wallis, Budge, E.A.W., The miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and The life of Hannâ (Saint Anne), and The magical prayers of ʻAhĕta
Mîkâêl, London, 1900.

Footnotes

With the royal patronage for her cult given by the Gondar’s Kings, Virgin Mary's role as a maker of miracles became predominant and apocalyptic metaphors and narrative gained importance in pictorial representations, such as those in the manuscripts. Her eschatological role continued to evolve until the eighteenth century, when she was portrayed in an icon as a celestial empress.