Priest with Large Canvas at the Church of the Monastery of Na’akuto La’ab (3425155404)

Priest with Large Canvas at the Church of the Monastery of Na’akuto La’ab

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What can I tell you about this photo?

Well, the huge canvas is resting on an old bed frame with turned legs; the legs are barely visible at the bottom of the image. You can see another photo of traditional Ethiopian bed frames a few pages back, but they don't have a painting resting on them.

Let's see - what else. Oh yes - the priest is now holding a hand cross, which looks very small here but will look larger if you elect to view a larger version of this photo using the "all sizes" tool above.

The fabric on which the painting rests is gorgeous. Could it be a carpet? Whatever it is, the combination of bright Easter-egg colors is irresistible. I should have asked where I could find one like it while I was there. Darn.

You say you'd like to hear about the painting? Well, that makes two of us. I can pretty much rule out the theme of St. Mercurios killing King Oleanus, since there aren't any dog-headed men in the company. Any lions or leopards? No? Then we aren't looking at St. Abbo, either.

In the absence of facts, go for guesswork. I am guessing the figure on horseback, the two figures on the right whose feet are resting on cushions, and the two figures up to their shoulders in a cloud on the left are Ethiopian kings.

The king on horseback has killed the prone figure in the lower right, and everyone else in the painting, with the possible exception of the man in the lower left, is affirming his great deed. Above it all, God is either weighing in with his vote of approval, or bowing to the audience.

Why the killing? Undoubtedly, it was a matter of state, perhaps settling a dispute over dynastic succession.

Now I'll open the floor to anyone who a) was on the tour with me and was paying attention while I was taking pictures; and/or b) wasn't on the tour, but can offer an informed and reasonably accurate explanation of the iconography. Especially the guy in the lower left, who appears to be lying on a foosball table.