Simonopetra Monastery

The Holy Monastery of Simonos Petra, or more simply Simonopetra, is without doubt the most daring construction on the Holy Mountain. It stands proudly at a height of 330 metres on the end of a rocky mountain range.

The Monastery was founded by the Blessed Simon the Myrrhobletes around 1257, as a result of a vision. The whole of the building work, the Life of the Saint assures us, was accomplished as the result of divine intervention. In 1363 the Monastery was renovated with generous donations from a Serb despot, John Uglesha, who is regarded as the Monastery's second founder. In the Third Typikon, Simonopetra occupies 23rd place among the then monasteries of Athos; today it holds thirteenth place in the hierarchy.

Unfortunately, among the dates which are milestones in the history of the Monastery are those inauspicious days when it was afflicted with the scourge of fire. In 1570 the Monastery, together with its valuable archive, was destroyed by a great conflagration. This resulted in the loss of documents of inestimable historical value. It also explains why we know so little about the Monastery in the Byzantine period.

The good relations which developed between Simonopetra and the Princes of Wallachia in the period of Turkish rule made possible its recovery. However, there was another fire in 1622, causing further damage. Simonopetra, which had been a coenobium, became idiorrythmic in the 17th century. Although never looted by pirates, the intolerable taxes of the Turks drove the Monastery to decline and abandonment. By the heroic efforts of the priest-monk Ioasaph of Mytilene, Asimopetra (as Simonopetra was called in the period of Turkish occupation) began to function again in the late 18th century. The 19th century saw the building of the multi-storeyed building on the south side. At the end of the same century, in 1891, yet another disastrous fire swept away, yet again, the older buildings and the Monastery's treasures.

In the present century, Simonopetra has experienced a period of recovery and of increasing prestige in the Orthodox world - particularly after the liberation of the Holy Mountain from the Turks and under the enlightened ladership of the Abbots Neophytos, Ioannikios, and Ieronymos. In the 1950s, however, a period of decline set in and in 1963, when Athos celebrated a millennium of life, the prospects for the future were gloomy. But the 1970s were a time when there was a gradual revival of Athonite monasticism. In 1973 a new 20-member brotherhood from the Meteora established itself at the Monastery. The Monastery of Simonos Petra once had a large number of metochia with fertile farm land. The oldest of these would appear to be Petriotiko in Sithonia. Today, best known are St Charalampus in Thessaloniki, the Ascension in Athens, the Nunnery of the Annunciation at Ormylia in Chalcidice, and three others in France. It is also worth mentioning the metochi of Michael Voda in Bucharest, dedicated to the Monastery in 1566 and confiscated by the Romanian Government in 1863.

Simonopetra, because of the restricted space of its site, is not one of those monasteries where we can see autonomous, clearly distinguished buildings. The katholikon is dedicated to the Nativity of Christ and in its original form was built around 1600, while the form it takes today took shape after the fire of 1891. The Monastery has four chapels within its precinct and eight outside.

The Monastery's archive contains a host of documents in Greek, Turkish, and Romanian, together with inscriptions, and musical and other manuscripts, to which must be added its printed books. However, it must be pointed out that almost the whole of the archival material is post-Byzantine.

The sacristy contains a treasury of works of art, consisting of icons, vestments, silverware, antimensia, seals, and engravings. However, the most important treasure of Simonopetra is the left hand of St Mary Magdalene - she is regarded as 'co-founder' of the Monastery - which has remained whole for two thousand years. The Monastery today has a community of 50 well-educated and active monks.


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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simonopetra_monastery

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Processional Cross

Date: 14th – 15th century

Geography: Ethiopia, Lasta region

Culture: Ethiopia, Lasta region

Medium: Brass

Dimensions: H. 10 1/2 x W. 5 in. (26.7 x 12.7cm)

Classification: Metal-Sculpture

Credit Line: Purchase, Elaine Rosenberg Gift and funds from various donors, 1998

Accession Number: 1998.37

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 351
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.


Description

The history of Christianity in Ethiopia is longstanding, dating back to the fourth century a.d. At that time, King Ezana, ruler of Aksum, made it the court religion. In spite of the antiquity of Ethiopian Christian art, however, processional crosses antedating the seventeenth century are rare due to sixteenth-century Islamic incursions that devastated the region.

Crosses such as this were commonly given to important monasteries by Ethiopian monarchs; in return, the clergy would remember the donors in prayers. Like many early Ethiopian crosses, this one was cast in brass using the lost-wax method. Since lost-wax objects must be made individually and are necessarily unique, this casting technique may have encouraged the experimentation that has yielded a spectacular diversity of Ethiopian metal crosses.

This processional cross has short side arms and longer vertical arms, features it shares with related Coptic and Byzantine traditions. Later crosses would equalize the length of the arms and fill in the gaps between them, almost dissolving the cross form into a diamond shape that was punctuated with interlacing patterns. The beginnings of the latter tendency can be seen here, particularly in the negative spaces that replicate the cross form at its three terminal points and the rectangular openings within its arms. Openings like these were both practical and aesthetic; they allowed crosses to be made larger without added weight, and when used in processions made impressive silhouettes against the open sky. At the base of the metal cross, just above its point of attachment to a long staff (no longer extant), are a pair of loops that served an additional purpose. These would have provided a place to affix the colored cloths that trailed from processional crosses while they were in use. A subtle counterpoint to these open spaces, shallow engraved lines thinly trace the stepped shape of the cross and enliven its broad planes with geometric patterns.

Until more recent times, Ethiopian processional crosses favored abstract openwork patterns and images of the Virgin and Child above the depiction of the Crucifixion scene. In part this reflects the view of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which does not see the cross solely in terms of Christ's Passion but also as the "Tree of Life in the midst of the Garden" (Genesis 2:9) and a vehicle of God's blessing to man.

Processional crosses play an active role in Christian religious life in Ethiopia, where churches commonly have one or more. They are prominently featured during services and processions that honor holy days such as the Epiphany or the feast of the Finding of the True Cross. Held aloft by clergy wearing ceremonial attire and accompanied by colorful umbrellas, these crosses imbue sacred occasions with reverential majesty.


http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/50010546

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the life of Bishop Selama

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the life of Bishop Selama, painting by an unknown artist

Height: 230 cm
Width: 180 cm

Donated by James Theodore Bent

1893,11-12.1

Around AD 1855
From Tigray, Ethiopia

Ethiopia has a very long and rich tradition of painting. As early as AD 620 two wives of The Prophet Mohammed described the beauty of the murals of St Mary Zion Church at Aksum. Most painters were priests and monks who learnt the art of painting under the guidance of an experienced church artist. Their work was commissioned by wealthy Ethiopians and illustrated and explained stories from the Bible and of the lives of saints. Church art was intended to be both informative and to inspire devotion.

This painting was made for the church of the Saviour of the World at Adwa in northern Ethiopia. As with most Ethiopian church paintings we do not know the name of the artist.

The main purpose of this painting was to inspire devotion through the depiction of Christ's crucifixion. It shows several episodes from the crucifixion story as if taking place at the same time. Christ’s followers are shown at the foot of the cross with tears running down their faces. The Virgin Mary is supported by St John the Evangelist, and Mary Magdalene embraces Christ’s feet.

Near the base of the cross is the skull of Adam – according to the Bible, the first man on earth. The crucifixion took place at Golgotha, the exact place where Adam was believed to be buried. Christ’s blood pours into the skull, indicating that the blood of Christ will bring salvation to everyone.

Around the edge of the painting there are 11 smaller scenes which celebrate the life of Bishop Selama, Head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church from 1841 to 1867. The painting also depicts the coronation of Emperor Tewodros II  in 1855. Dejazmatch Wube and Biru Goshu, key political figures in the mid nineteenth-century Ethiopian politics of church and state are also shown.

Church paintings at this time were an important means of communication and observers would have been able to identify the recent events shown.

The painting was donated to the British Museum by the archaeologist James Theodore Bent in 1893 and is part of a comprehensive collection of Ethiopian material he put together while travelling in Ethiopia.

British Museum conservators have recently relined the painting and mounted it on a flat board. This helps preserve it, while a full analysis of the painting carried out by Museum scientists has allowed a greater understanding of the construction of the painting.


http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/c/crucifixion_of_jesus_christ.aspx

Painting of a Religious Procession

19th century AD, Ethiopia

Painting of a Religious Procession

Length: 79.000 cm
Width: 65.000 cm

Given by Mrs Speedy

AOA 1912,11-20,5

Room 66: Ethiopia and Egypt
'The object reminded me about a religious procession in my country. I also remembered about a story my dad told me about the cultural ceremony that his great grandparents used to do; a procession where everyone has to take part. It happened once a year. The priests carry a processional cross, sing and dance in procession to the place of worship. The only thing I don't like about the picture is the rifle. I don't know the meaning of the rifle in the picture.' Antoinette M. Kanyako, of Sierra Leonean origin

This nineteenth-century painting vividly recalls the rich pageant of religious procession in Ethiopia. It shows priests carrying hand crosses, a processional cross and a censor. They sing and dance in procession with a sacred Tabot, the symbolic representation of the biblical Ark of the Covenant. Every Ethiopian church has at least one Tabot which sanctifies the building in which it is placed. Only certain priests are allowed to see the Tabots and when they are taken outside the church to celebrate festivals they are concealed beneath richly decorated cloths, as shown here.

The painting may show the festival of Timkat, Epiphany or perhaps the feast day of St George, as the saint is represented riding above the procession on a white horse. St George is one of the most important saints in Ethiopia. Paintings of St George were taken into battle ahead of the Ethiopian army to ensure the defeat of their enemies. He is seen as a protector and was closely associated with Ethiopian royalty. The scene is completed by the image of an angel in a cloud of blue, representing the Holy Spirit and signifying the presence of God.

The painting seems to reflect the description in the Bible of King David's triumphant return with the Ark of the Covenant. Processions like this can still be seen throughout Ethiopia today.

B. Burt, Africa in the world: past and (London, British Museum Press, 2005)

J. Mack (ed.), Africa: arts and cultures (London, The British Museum Press, 2000)


http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aoa/p/religious_procession_painting.aspx

Ethiopian Illuminated Manuscript Gospel

Illuminated Gospel

Date: late 14th–early 15th century

Geography: Ethiopia, Amhara region

Culture: Amhara peoples

Medium: Parchment (vellum), wood (acacia), 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-Document

Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1998

Accession Number: 1998.66

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 351
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.


Description

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. The origins of civilization in Highlands Ethiopia can be traced to the sixth century B.C.E., when emigrants from Arabia merged with indigenous groups to develop the kingdom of Aksum. In the fourth century C.E., scholars from Alexandria converted the Ethiopian king Ezana, and Christianity became the official religion of a state that endured until modern times. Over the centuries, as the Ethiopian state expanded, monasteries were founded as centers of learning responsible for disseminating knowledge and consolidating the power and influence of the monarchy. 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.


http://www.metmuseum.org/Collections/search-the-collections/50010287