Antique Ethiopian Icon Virgin Mary Infant Jesus Early Christian Art 300 yrs old

Description

The term icon is used to refer to a devotional image. It is typically painted on a flat wooden panel, although in Ethiopia, as in other traditions, materials such as metal or stone could also be used to produce this type of image. The earliest known Ethiopian icons have been dated to the fifteenth century and are generally painted with tempera on gesso-primed wooden panels. Ethiopian icons from this period typically portray the Virgin and Child, the Apostles, and Saints
The right panel is decorated with portraits of the Apostles who turn their gaze in adoration towards the Virgin and Child. In the bottom left corner is a representation of Saint George on horseback.  It is likely that inscriptions identifying the upper row of Apostles and the Virgin and Child Icons such as this were most likely created to encourage devotion towards the Virgin Mary in accordance with the wishes of the Ethiopian emperor Zarʾa Yaʿ ǝqob (who ruled from 1434–68) and would have been used in churches and in religious processions
Approximately 300 yrs old
Measures 13 1/ 4 inches in length by 8 inches in width closed 15 inches wide opened