The Pregnant Abbess
Image displayed with permission of British Library
The Pregnant Abbess
- This painting (also called an illumination) appears in a manuscript taken from King Tewodros's royal library in Magdala, Southern Ethiopia, and dated to 1650-1699. You can view this painting in the manuscript British Library, "Orient" Collection, Manuscript No. 645, f. 103v, or learn more about this manuscript at its PEMM Manuscript page. You can also read the related story at its PEMM Story page.
- Many Geʿez manuscript paintings are in "Synoptic Narrative Art” style; that is, a single painting depicts multiple moments in the story, providing a series of vignettes representing different plot points. PEMM calls these "episodes". This painting of PEMM Story ID 158 has 4 episodes. The painting's episode descriptions, locations, and keywords are:
- 1. The bishop sitting on a throne in front of a group of women accusing Sofyā (top-left). The object(s) are church; stool; mitre. The living being(s) are bishop.
- 2. The bishop and Sofyā sitting next to each other (top-right). The object(s) are mitre. The living being(s) are bishop.
- 3. The bishop sitting next to Finkǝs and the child (center-right). The object(s) are mitre. The living being(s) are bishop.
- 4. The child as a grown man is appointed bishop, he is surrounded by two persons (bottom-right). The object(s) are mitre. The living being(s) are bishop.
- This painting has a caption in Geʿez, which Jeremy Brown has translated as: Archbishop Abba Severus; How the nuns accused Sofya to the archbishop.
- The number of PEMM manuscripts that have paintings of this story is 37. The total number of paintings of this story in PEMM manuscripts is 76.
- PEMM's ID number for this painting is 1737.
- To reproduce this image online or in print, please contact the British Library. PEMM does not own the rights.
- If you think any of the information on this page is incorrect (e.g., the location, date, description, captions), please use our PEMM Feedback Form to let us know. We depend on users like you to improve the site.
