History of the queen of Sheba - Art of ethiopia, 1935 ca.

Features

Artwork title:  Storia della regina di Saba

Age:  20th Century / 1901 - 2000

Subject:  Story of the Queen of Sheba

Artistic technique:  Painting

Technical specification:  Oil on Canvas

Description : Storia della regina di Saba

Oil on canvas. The canvas depicts the meeting between the queen Aseb, or Machedà according to ethiopian tradition, or Sheba in the translation of the bible, with the wise king Solomon, and marks the descent from these to the lineage of the imperial ethiopian. The story takes place in 29 boxes (there are variants which are complete that come to narrate the event in 72 images), and it ends with the return of the queen in homeland, pregnant after the meeting with Solomon. Will give birth to Menelik I , the progenitor of the line imperial, and therefore a direct descendant of the lineage of david. It is part of a group of seven works, which arrived in Italy at the end of the '30s; were purchased directly on-site , as we have reconstructed from the correspondence and from the family photos, from the lawyer xxx, grandfather of the owners, who was sent as a legal representative of a company of Italian production in 1935 in Ethiopia, and from here it was driven out in 1938 by general Graziani, because it was considered anti-fascist. The paintings remained in the family collection, in the palace of the family, and are now presented in all their expressive force. Ethiopia has a very particular history: it is situated between Africa and Asia, and between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, was a crossroads and meeting point of different cultures, stimulated also by the constant and intense trade flows. Five centuries before Christ, stabilized the dynasty of Aksum; in this kingdom, in the fourth century after Christ, christianity was established as state religion, in his version, the coptic orthodox. The sacred texts of the medieval speak also, however, a direct relationship with one of the ten Hebrew tribes, after fleeing to Ethiopia, from which sprang the royal family through the queen of Sheba. And in fact, in Ethiopia still live today), the line of the Falascià, black jews, whose first historical mention dates back to 600 after Christ. Ethiopia was then a bastion of jewish-christian, with african influences, but to be considered almost the southern edge of the mediterranean culture. From these premises, you better understand the subjects represented, and the overlap of human figures with white, black and vanilla, and symbols that belong to the western culture, represented with a bi-dimensional approach almost byzantine, from the eastern icons. Description of the panes: Row 1 1, The people of the Tigris makes a sacrifice to the dangerous dragon. Meets in front of him and offers him a billy-goat 2, Agabos, he also of the people of the Tigris, decide to kill the dragon and make use of this act to be appointed king. It is therefore a covenant with the people by an oath mutual:Agabos raises his right hand and shakes hands with the representative elder of the people. 3, Agabos cut from a plant of the leaves poisonous. It protects you from poison with a handkerchief wet in front of the mouth. His wife tamp the leaves in a wooden mortar. 4, The mixture is poisonous it is baked in the form of flat bread and made to eat the goat. 5, Agabos door the goat is poisoned the dragon, followed by his wife to the point of tears, that says to itself, “my husband goes to meet death, I'll die with him” 6, Offers to the dragon, the goat is poisoned; the dragon believes that both the supply and the usual, and eats it, dying immediately. The wife of Agabos bows before the dragon. 7, Agabos show the dragon's corpse to the people, who rejoices in it, and appointed him king Row 2: 1, Agabos becomes king 2. Agabos, the past years of reign, he called to the people and says: “When I am dead, my daughter Makeda to me will happen”. The people agree. 3, The queen Aseb (= Makeda= saba) on the throne of the father. The two body guards holding the crown on the head of the queen. 4, A merchant arrives from Jerusalem. The pyramids point the way to the Egypt, and the turban indicates that the man is a muslim. 5, The queen queries the merchant of Jerusalem, the king Solomon. The hands crossed on the chest of the merchant to indicate respect for the queen. 6, The queen sends the king Solomon of a scent of precious. 7, The trader, with the gift of the queen in his hand, back into the land of king Solomon. 8, The trader with the precious perfume, that only in the land of the queen Aseb you can find, tells his arrival to the employees of the court of the power and the kingdom of the Queen, and so also of the scent of precious. Asks the servants of the court to transmit everything to the king. Row 3 : 1,The trader is made to go and deliver the smells to the king. We see the dealer with the left arm raised to hold a fork, the method used by petitioners before the king, and still in use in Ethiopia until about 1930. 2, The queen's journey to king Solomon. Noblewomen and servants of the court accompany it. 3, The queen across a lake with his companions, protecting yourself from the sun with an umbrella, Two other boats will follow the boat of the queen. In the background you can still see the Pyramids. 4. On his arrival at the palace of King Solomon asks for the employees to proclaim it. 5, a Meeting between the queen and the king 6, King Solomon offers a banquet for the queen. Top right: the queen watch from a grid. 7, King Solomon offering to the queen to eat. The food is very spicy, so as to stimulate thirst. This particular is to be connected to the fact that the queen swears to not raise the glass, and this oath will be used by Solomon. File 4 1. Solomon asks the queen if she wants to spend the night with him, vowing that he would not have used any violence upon her and Solomon is rappresntato with the hand raised to swear and Aseb rejects his request with the movement of the hand buffer. 2, Solomon sleeps, well separated from Aseb 3, Solomon spy Aseb while it is drinking a glass of water , he asked his servant 4. Solomon says: You have broken your oath. You can see on the neck of the queen a tattoo of Bitter. 5. King Solomon and the queen Aseb sleep together. 6. King Solomon a ring to the Queen as a sign. This ring traditionally will show in the dynasty of Menelik lineage from king Solomon 7. The queen Aseb, is back in his land.

Product Condition:
Product in good condition, has small signs of wear and tear.

Frame Size (cm):
Height: 82
Width: 154
Depth: 3

Artwork dimensions (cm):
Height: 80
Width: 152
Depth: 3

Additional Information