Ethiopian icons reveal ancient Christian culture

CLINTON - Four centuries after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Ethiopian King Ezana embraced Christianity in the kingdom of Aksum, beginning the diffusion of the new religion’s beliefs and art throughout the Horn of Africa. For much of the following 1,600 years, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church – known as Tewahdo – has kept that faith alive throughout the introduction of Islam and the impact of imperialism, poverty and revolution on the beleaguered nation.

More than 60 rare icons and artifacts, mostly loaned from a German collector, reveal that unique fusion of Christian traditions with Ethiopian culture at the Museum of Russian Icons.

Curated by noted German art historian Marc Loerke and organized by museum registrar Laura Garrity-Arquitt, “The Vibrant Art and Storied History of Ethiopian Icons,’’ will transport visitors into ancient times and remote places.

In one of the Clinton’s museum’s farthest-reaching shows, visitors will see two- and three-panel icons representing saints and sacred stories, intricately-designed brass crosses and gorgeous illuminated manuscripts that present ancient Christian stories for African eyes.

Along the way, they’ll meet King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba and perhaps discover the whereabouts of the fabled lost Ark of the Covenant that sent Indiana Jones on his cinematic adventures.

While many prior exhibits in the one-of-a-kind museum featured work once displayed in monasteries and churches across Russia, this show presents rare Ethiopian versions of an art form that flourished in a warmer climate.

Africa’s largest landlocked and second most populous nation, it is a country of remarkably diverse cultures and the place where some of the oldest evidence for modern humans has been found.

Garrity-Arquitt recommended visitors look for external differences between the Ethiopian icons and artifacts on display and the mostly Russian objects shown throughout the museum.

While two diptychs representing the crucifixion and Saint George with Mary date to the 15th century, most objects in the show range from the 15th to 19th centuries.

She observed that Ethiopian icon artists often portrayed their subjects in a graphically bold manner with large, almond-shaped eyes.

And Garrity-Arquitt pointed out several striking manuscripts and prayer scrolls, also called “magic scrolls,’’ written in an ancient Ethiopian language called Ge’ez, that was once the official language of the kingdom of Aksum but now is used primarily for liturgical purposes.

Loerke, who manages the Thomas Monius Ikonengalerie in Germany, cited specific characteristics of Ethiopian icon painting that differentiate them from their more familiar Russian counterparts.

While Russian icons often feature images of St. George slaying a satanic dragon or the Prophet Isaiah ascending to heaven, Ethiopian icons represent stories familiar to locals including tales of King Solomon, the Queen of Sheba and her son Menelik, who was instrumental in adopting Judaism into Ethiopia.

Many visitors will observe recognizable distinctions among the museum’s more than 300 Russian icons and their Ethiopian counterparts that appear more vivid and less sophisticated artistically with a narrower color palette.

Loerke said Ethiopian icons are painted with a limited range of colors and that faces don’t have individualized features. Individuals are often identified by adding names or inscriptions while saints are usually designated by symbols or other attributes, he said.

While saints and Ethiopians, who are almost always depicted as light-skinned, are shown either frontally or in three-quarter profile, Loerke said foreigners and sinners, such as the soldier crucifying Jesus, are depicted in profile so their supposedly “evil eyes” do not fall upon viewers.

Museum CEO and Curator Kent dur Russell explained that icon artists in Ethiopia developed their distinctive style because they absorbed influences based on the interpretation of Byzantine art by Egyptian Coptic Christians from Egypt after pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

Garrity-Arquitt also pointed out a section in the exhibit that explained the ancient symbolism of the swastika that was used as a symbol of abundance by Buddhists and Hindus and found carved around the windows of the mysterious Lalibela Rock Churches of Ethiopia. Swastikas were used as religious or mythic symbols by ancient Greeks, Trojans, Celts, Druids and Catholics long before their use by Nazi Germany led to such negative associations.

And what about that mysterious Ark of the Covenant that Indiana Jones braved Nazis, snakes, spiders and runaway boulders to find?

Garrity-Arquitt explained the historic Ark was believed to have been built according to instructions given by God because of records in the Book of Exodus. Covered with pure gold, it was to have two gold angels with outspread wings on its top and poles on the side for carrying.

According to wall text accompanying images in the exhibit, after accompanying the Hebrews on their 40-year trek through the desert, the Ark was carried to Jerusalem and kept in a tabernacle built by King Solomon. It has been lost to history since Babylon destroyed the temple in 597 BCE.

But Garrity-Arquitt said legends persist that the Queen of Sheba’s son, Menelik, saved the Ark before Babylon was sacked and returned it to Ethiopia where some say it remains today housed in Our Lady of Zion Church in Axum in a chamber guarded by a single monk.

“I really want it to be in Ethiopia,’’ she said.

Visitors to this intriguing exhibit will have to decide for themselves and, unlike Indiana Jones, they won’t have to worry about snakes or rolling boulders. 

“The Vibrant Art and Storied History of Ethiopian Icons”

WHEN: Through April 18

WHERE: Museum of Russian Icons, Clinton

INFO: 978-598-5000; www.museumofrussianicons.org