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Ethiopian Orthodox · ca. 1630-1700

The diptych's composition of registers containing depictions of multiple events is complex. Particularly appealing are the artist's references to Ethiopian life: Mary spinning thread seated on a three-legged stool; the ball game; the style of the three yellow crowns; the lidded food basket on Salome's head; and the depiction of the Temple in Jerusalem as miniature Ethiopian churches. The hand-to-cheek pose and presence of "Eyachem" in the Nativity scene is more typical of Joseph. The final two scenes--the death and assumption of Mary--are rare in Ethiopian art and mix local and foreign artistic forms.