Bishop Composes Mary's Book
Image displayed with permission of Bibliothèque nationale de France
Bishop Composes Mary's Book
- This painting (also called an illumination) appears in a manuscript likely made in Gondar, Western Ethiopia, and dated to 1700-1799. You can view this painting in the manuscript Bibliothèque nationale de France, Ethiopien d'Abbadie Collection, Manuscript No. 114, f. 10r, s. 21, 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 13 has 3 episodes. The painting's episode descriptions, locations, and keywords are:
- 1. Hildephonsus of Toledo sits upon the throne, wears the garment given to him by Mary, and reads the Miracles of Mary (top-left). The object(s) are throne; mitre; manuscript; folio; book. The living being(s) are Ildefonsus of Toledo; bishop; scribe; author.
- 2. The throne and garment are preserved after Hildephonsus of Toledo's death (top-right). The object(s) are throne.
- 3. Hildephonsus of Toledo's successor falling and being smitten by an angel having touched Mary's gifts to Hildephonsus without permission (bottom). The object(s) are manuscript; book; mitre; jewelry. The living being(s) are Mary; Ildefonsus of Toledo; author; bishop; angel.
- This painting has a caption in Geʿez, which Jeremy Brown has translated as: How he read the book of the Miracles of our Lady, the two-fold Holy Virgin Mary.
- The number of PEMM manuscripts that have paintings of this story is 51. The total number of paintings of this story in PEMM manuscripts is 93.
- PEMM's ID number for this painting is 1060.
- To reproduce this image online or in print, please contact the Bibliothèque nationale de France. 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.
