A History Of Painting In East Gojjam In The Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries A Study Of The Second Gondarine Style Of Painting

As early as the introduction of Christianity in thernfourth century A.D. painting apparently was an importantrncomponent of the Christian art of Ethiopia. Paintings thatrnhave come to light so far date back to the eleventh centuryrnA.D. This thesis attempts to study the last part of thernhistory of painting in Ethiopia by concentrating on a smallrngeographical unit, East Gojjam. In the eighteenth andrnnineteenth centuries the art of painting underwent significantrnchanges. Several different ways of expressing the same themernemerged. Most important of the developments was the growingrnregional variation and the emergence of schools.rnAlmost all of the paintings described and analyzed inrnthis thesis are paintings that are yet known to scholars ofrnart history. They are found in the different churches andrnmonasteries of East Gojjam. In reconstructing the history ofrnpainting in East Gojjam in the eighteenth and nineteenthrncenturies contemporary as well as later written documents arernused in addition to the paintings. Oral information is also anrnimportant source for this thesis.rnThe main focus of this thesis is showing the variationsrnin expression, selection of themes, rendering of costume andrncomposition at different times through the eighteenth andrnnineteenth centuries. In the first half of the eighteenthrncentury the Second Gondärine style of painting was introducedrnin East Gojjam. In the middle and second half of the centuryrnthe style was widely in use for decorating church walls andrnmanuscript illumination. The period from the 1770s to the turnrnof the century witnessed the flourishing of the style. Severalrnvirnchurches were decorated and manuscripts were illuminated inrnthese churches. The painting of the eighteenth century did notrnshow significant variation. In the nineteenth centuryrnvariations in expression became very wide. In the last part ofrnthe nineteenth century the art of painting flourished and arnlarge number of painters existed. The painting of this periodrnshows difference from the painting of the earlier period inrncomposition. An attempt has also been made to trace thernrelationship between artistic and social and politicalrndevelopments

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