When images travel to Ethiopia …

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A Gospel in Arabic printed 1590 in Rome – illustrated with 149 woodcuts of the famous Antonio Tempesta – came to Ethiopia and influenced the Ethiopian book painting of the 17th century. In this documentary Annegret Marx confronts Tempesta‘s woodcuts with the painted miniatures of the previously unpublished Gospel from Martula Maryam. This direct synoptic comparison reveals not only a striking similarity of the presentations of the Life of Jesus, but illustrates also the difference in the iconography of the two cultures. The old paintings span a bow through space and time from Europe to Africa and back – at the same time his book opens up a fresh look at the Biblical stories.