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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The battle of Adwa as depicted in traditional Ethiopian art: changing perceptions |
Author: | Pankhurst, R. |
Year: | 1987 |
Periodical: | Bulletin des séances = Mededelingen der zittingen |
Volume: | 33 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 199-233 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Ethiopia |
Subjects: | war 1896 painting |
Abstract: | Traditional Ethiopian painting includes, among its themes, that of the battle of Adwa victoriously fought by Emperor Menilek II against the Italians in 1896. Starting with the first years following the battle, the theme has been taken over by various artists over the last three-quarters of a century. Many of these works are now to be found in American or European museums or private collections. They bear witness, through the relative importance which they confer on some people who did, or did not, take part in the battle, through changes in composition, through modifications in the armament, dress and flags on both sides, to multiple preoccupations of an ideological or political nature. In that respect Adwa paintings reveal much about the contemporary history of Ethiopia, and their anachronisms serve to document the changing spirit of the times. Notes, ref., sum. also in French and Dutch. |