Religious Subject Oil on Canvas Italy 1935 Ca.

Features

Artwork title:  Re Davide suona l'arpa

Age:  20th Century / 1901 - 2000

Subject:  Sacred Subject

Origin:  Ethiopia

Artistic technique:  Painting

Technical specification:  Oil on Canvas

Description : Re Davide suona l'arpa

The canvas depicts King David playing the harp. Depicted with Ethiopian features, the painting underlines the direct descent of the people from the Davidic lineage. It is part of a group of seven works, which arrived in Italy at the end of the 1930s; they were purchased directly on site, as we have reconstructed from the correspondence and family photos, by the lawyer xxx, grandfather of the owners, who was sent as the legal representative of an Italian production company in 1935 in Ethiopia, and from there he was expelled in 1938 by General Graziani because he was considered anti-fascist. The canvases remained in the family collection, in the family palace, and are now re-proposed in all their expressive power. Ethiopia has a very particular history: located between Africa and Asia, and between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, it was a crossroads and meeting point of different cultures, also stimulated by the constant and intense trade flows. Five centuries BC the Aksum dynasty was established; under this reign, in the fourth century after Christ, Christianity was established as the state religion, in its Coptic Orthodox version. The medieval sacred texts also speak, however, of a direct relationship with one of the ten Jewish tribes, who took refuge in Ethiopia, from which the royal lineage was derived through the queen of Sheba. And in fact in Ethiopia the Falascià lineage still lives today, black Jews whose first historical records date back to 600 AD. Ethiopia was therefore a Jewish-Christian bulwark, with African influences, but to be considered almost the southern edge of Mediterranean culture.

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

Frame Size (cm):
Height: 168
Width: 118
Depth: 3

Artwork dimensions (cm):
Height: 166
Width: 116
Depth: 3