The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 21, 2024

Single Leaf from a Gospel Book with a Portrait of St. Luke

Single Leaf from a Gospel Book with a Portrait of St. Luke

c. 1440–80
ink and tempera on vellum
Sheet: 37 x 25 cm (14 9/16 x 9 13/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1999.212
Location: 003 Special Exhibition Hall

Did You Know?

The majority of Ethiopian manuscripts are written in Ge’ez, the ancient liturgical language of Ethiopia.

Description

Gospels are important Christian texts recounting the life of Christ, written by four disciples known as the Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Gospel manuscripts across the medieval Christian world placed their portraits before their writings. This Ethiopian example shows Saint Luke, seated and holding writing accessories. Scholars associate the elongated face and supple lines of his garments with the Gundä Gunde Monastery in the northern Tigray region, well known for its artistic production. The monk who likely made this painting included Saint Luke’s name in the eastern African Ge’ez language (ሉቃስ, Lukas) and his symbol (the ox) at the top of the page.
  • -1999
    (Bruce Ferrini Rare Books, Akron, Oh), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1999-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Oh
  • Fliegel, Stephen "St. Luke in Ethiopia" The Cleveland Museum of Art Member's Magazine (April 2000) pp. 4-5 archive.org
    Petridis, Constantijn. South of the Sahara: Selected Works of African Art. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2003. p. 16 fig. 5
    Heldman, Marilyn E. “Legends of Lālibalā: The Development of an Ethiopian Pilgrimage Site.” Anthropology and Aestetics 27 (Spring 1995) pp. 25-38
    Paris (France), and Fundació Caixa de Girona. L'arche éthiopienne: art chrétien d'Éthiopie : 27 septembre 2000-7 janvier 2001, Pavillon des arts. Paris: Paris musées, 2000. Cat. No. 60
    Heldman, Marilyn Eiseman, S. C. Munro-Hay, and Roderick Grierson. African Zion: The Sacred Art of Ethiopia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993. p. 190
    Heldman, Marilyn. “An Éwostāthian Style and the Gundā Gundē Style in Fifteenth-Century Ethiopian Manuscript Illumination.” Proceedings of the First International Conference on the History of Ethiopian Art (London 1989) pp. 5-14
    Cleveland Museum of Art, “Cleveland Museum of Art Acquires Rare Chinese Paintings, Baroque Porcelain Plaque and Other New Acquisitions Exhibited with Hanging Scrolls,” December 20, 1999, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org
    Mercier, Jacques. Art of Ethiopia: From the Origins to the Golden Century (330-1527). 2021. fig 217
    Achi, Andrea Myers, et al. Africa and Byzantium. New York : The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2023. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 216, no. 121
  • Africa & Byzantium. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (organizer) (November 14, 2023-March 3, 2024); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (co-organizer) (April 14-July 21, 2024).
  • {{cite web|title=Single Leaf from a Gospel Book with a Portrait of St. Luke|url=false|author=|year=c. 1440–80|access-date=21 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.212