Book of the Gospels

late 14th–early 15th century

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 344

This illuminated manuscript of the Four Gospels was created at a monastic center in northern Ethiopia. Twenty full-page paintings depict scenes from the life of Christ and four portraits of the evangelists introduce the respective Gospel texts. The New Testament was translated from Greek into Geez, the classical language of Ethiopia, in the sixth century. Both this text and its pictorial format draw upon Byzantine prototypes, which were transformed into a local idiom of expression. Stylistically consistent, the paintings reflect the hands of two distinct artists. The color scheme consists of red, yellow, green, and blue. A stylized uniformity is reflected in the abbreviated definition of facial features and the bold linear articulation of the human form in black and red. Figures' heads are depicted frontally, their bodies often in profile. Bodies are treated as columnar masses encased in textiles composed of striated fields juxtaposed against one another.

This work is evidence of sub-Saharan Africa's historically complex interrelationships with Arabia, Egypt, and the eastern Mediterranean. Early complex societies in the Highlands developed primarily through local processes beginning in the late second millennium B.C.E. Those societies attracted trade from across the Red Sea, Mediterranian, and Indian Ocean, which spurred migrations, religious exchanges, and greater concentrations of wealth. By the early first millennium C.E., the Kingdom of Aksum emerged as a powerful civilization that, at its height, extended from Ethiopia's Highlands in the South, to the Eastern Desert in the North, to southern Arabia in the East. Emperor Ezana (r. ca. 320s-360 C.E.) was the first monarch to convert to Christianity, and adopted it as the state religion. Subsequent kingdoms, including the Zagwe Dynasty (ca. 1137-1270 C.E.) and the Ethiopian Empire (1270-1974 C.E.) continued to embrace Christianity. Monasteries were founded as centers of learning responsible for disseminating knowledge and consolidating the power and influence of the ruling elite. In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the text of the Gospels was considered the most important holy writing; the miniatures at the beginning of this manuscript were intended to be viewed during liturgical processions. Such works were frequently presented to churches by distinguished patrons; they reflected both the prestige of royal benefactors and the erudition of the monastic scriptoria in which they were created. Recent research suggests that a member of Ethiopia's ruling elite may have commissioned this manuscript at Dabra Hayg Estifanos monastery for presentation to his or her favored church or monastery. Brief notations indicate that the church in question was dedicated to the Archangel Michael.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Book of the Gospels
Artist: Northern Highlands artist
Date: late 14th–early 15th century
Geography: Ethiopia, Lake Tana region
Medium: Parchment (vellum), acacia wood, tempera, ink
Dimensions: H. 16 1/2 x W. 11 1/4 x D. 4 in. (41.9 x 28.6 x 10.2 cm)
Classification: Hide-Documents
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1998
Object Number: 1998.66
Curatorial Department: The Michael C. Rockefeller Wing

Audio

1525. Book of the Gospels, Northern Highlands artists

Maaza Mengiste

0:00

MAAZA MENGISTE: When I see this book, what I see is a centuries-old relationship between the written word and religion. These religious texts were the primary expression of writers in Ethiopia until more modern times.

My name is Maaza Mengiste. I was born in Ethiopia, and I am an Ethiopian/American writer.

Ethiopia has had a deep history of literature, of writings. It has been steeped in the written word as a way to preserve the memories of different empires, of different rulers.

ANGELIQUE KIDJO (NARRATOR): In the sixth century, Ethiopians started translating the gospel into Geʽez—one of the oldest written languages in the world, and which remain the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

MAAZA MENGISTE: This has been the way that religion was passed down. Priests could read this and could then provide interpretations of the Bible to their congregations. Writing in Ethiopia has been deeply, intricately connected with its religions, whether it's Arabic or whether it’s Geʽez or Amharic.

ANGELIQUE KIDJO: The tradition of illuminating, or artistically rendering the people and narratives from a religious text, also points to something beyond words.

MAAZA MENGISTE: When I see the drawings next to the writings, it tells me that there is another layer that’s happening here. These drawings are seeking to affirm something that is outside of language. It’s a connection that has no real words, and I think that the intricateness of these drawings, the richness of the colors, the golds, the reds, they are, in a sense, trying to reflect visually what it might mean to have an epiphany.

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