African Ethiopian painting - 20th century battle scene

African Ethiopian painting brought to Italy by a diplomat during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia in the late 1930s. This tribal folk art depicts a battle scene, and the canvas is mounted on a parallelogram-shaped frame.
It is a large battle scene, with rural cottages at the center. Opposite each other stand two large ranks of soldiers armed with sabers and bayonets, as well as heavy artillery commanded by dignitaries on horseback.

The canvas features inscriptions in Amharic, among which we can decipher "fitewrari habteghiorghis," probably referring to Habte Giyorgis, Ethiopia's Prime Minister from 1909 to 1927 (the year of his death).

The dimensions listed below refer to height and maximum width from the top left edge to the bottom right edge.

Dating back to the late 1930s. The canvas shows minimal tears and signs of wear, but restoration can be arranged.

The human figures are characterized by unrealistic proportions of the head and body and are depicted in static poses. This sense of stability makes the battle scene understandable and evocative.

A particularly fascinating aspect of Ethiopian art was its commitment to expressing objective truth, independent of time and space. Numbers are represented in what is considered their true, unchanging form. At the height of its stylistic perfection, Ethiopian art abandoned illusions of volume, depth, and perspective.

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