The next lecture will take place on 4 February 2026 at 3:00 pm via Zoom. The speaker is Carolin Schäfer (Munich).

Ethiopian icons have supported Ethiopian Orthodox liturgy since their earliest known local production, first attested during the reign of Zärʾa Yaʿəqob (r. 1434–1468). In particular, the dissemination of Mariologically focused texts such as the Taʾamrä Maryam (Miracles of Mary) led to their intensified use, providing a visual accompaniment to the spoken word. In order to meet local demand, however, the production of icons relied on the involvement of craftsmen and painters from surrounding and flourishing regions, including the Mamluk Sultanate as a cultural melting pot in the eastern Mediterranean, Nubia, the Republic of Venice, as well as painters from northwestern India. The lecture focuses in particular on the artistic developments of Ethiopian icons in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.