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Patronage and the Theological Integrity of the Ethiopian Orthodox

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Patronage and the Theological Integrity of the Ethiopian Orthodox Johnson, Edwin Hamilton (2011) Patronage and the theological integrity of Ethiopian Orthodox sacred paintings in present day Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. PhD thesis, SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies). http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/13152 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Patronage and the Theological Integrity of Ethiopian Orthodox Sacred Paintings in Present Day Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Edwin Hamilton Johnson Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Art History 2011 Department of Art History School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 1 2 Acknowledgements In addition to giving thanks for the guidance I received from my supervisor Dr. Tania Tribe, I would like to also thank Dr. David Appleyard and Dr. Charles Gore for their advice and support. A special thank you also goes to Professor John Picton, Professor Richard Pankhurst and Rita Pankhurst as sources of iconic inspiration to pursue the study of African art history and Ethiopian culture respectively. I would like to thank His Holiness Abuna Paulos and His Eminence Abuna Garima of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tehwado Church for their time, patience and knowledge, which was pivotal to the success of this research project on Ethiopian Orthodox paintings. I also want to thank my research assistant, translator and friend Yonas Beyene whose contribution to the success of this research project cannot be measured. My grateful appreciation goes out to the patrons, painters and clerics of Addis Ababa who contributed their time and information upon which the content of this study is based. School of Oriental and African Studies Bursary, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (2002) and Central Research Grants, University of London (2002 and 2003) contributed to the funding of the fieldwork component of this study. 3 Abstract This doctoral thesis provides a picture of the dynamic of the patronage of Ethiopian Orthodox sacred paintings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, based on fieldwork conducted between 2001 and 2003. The content of this study fills a gap in existing academic research regarding the production of Ethiopian Orthodox sacred paintings. In addition to providing a description of the patronage process from beginning to end, this thesis is an analysis of the dynamics of the means for maintenance of the theological integrity of these images by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. While the roles of all of the participants in the patronage process are analyzed in this study, it is the role of the priests that receives special attention, as they are central to the facilitation of the patronage process and the oversight of the doctrinal correctness of the images created by artists producing Ethiopian Orthodox religious images in the 20th and 21st centuries. My analysis of the dynamics of power with the patronage of Ethiopian Orthodox sacred paintings in Addis Ababa is based on Michel Foucault’s concepts of the pastoral dynamic of power and the policing role of pastoral authorities found in his two-part lecture series titled Pastoral Power and Political Reason presented at Stanford University in 1979.1 By switching from the civic emphasis of his own work towards an ecclesiastical context appropriate to the study of production of religious imagery, light was shed on the role that Ethiopian Orthodox priests play in the patronage of sacred paintings within the context of the maintenance of theological integrity of religious observance. From Foucault’s own picture of pastoral power and the ‘policing’ role or oversight of this tradition by the priesthood, this theoretical foundation served as a springboard for gleaning an understanding about the relationships between priests, art and the maintenance of theological integrity in religious practice. 1 Foucault, Michel. “Pastoral Power and Political Reason (1979).” Chap. 11 in Religion and Culture by Michel Foucault, selected and edited by Jeremy R. Carrette, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999. 4 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 6 Chapter 2: Practical Theory and Applied Method 33 Chapter 3: The Living Tradition 59 Chapter 4: The Tripartite Model 101 Chapter 5: The Patronage Process According to the Tripartite Pattern 151 Chapter 6: Conclusion 206 Amharic Glossary 210 Detail of Madonna and Child by Aragawi Kahsay, Photograph by author (fig. 1) 5 Chapter 1: Introduction 6 Sometimes the best way to understand something is to take it apart and look inside. I know that when I was little I did this with any gadget I could get my hands on. This was a symptom of youthful curiosity. My process of developing a deeper understanding about Ethiopian Orthodox art, which went beyond the standard academic literature on the topic, began with a liturgical approach toward the study of this art. This discourse is a continuation of patronage that uses the study of the patronage process as a means of dissecting important qualities and issues connected with Ethiopian Orthodox religious imagery, its nature and its use. At the time of this study, there was to my knowledge no literature that described the recent state of the patronage of Ethiopian Orthodox art in any depth. While I was blessed with the excitement of breaking new ground in the study of Ethiopian Orthodox paintings, I was also confronting art historical territory that was unfamiliar to myself and barely explored by academia as a whole. The result was a gauntlet of trial and error that occurred before I gained a reasonably secure grasp of this topic, arriving at the realization of the central importance of priests in the patronage process in addition to an understanding of the typical course of the patronage process from beginning to end. The gathered information and analysis of the dynamic of power that exists within the patronage process has not only shed light simply on the production process of Ethiopian Orthodox paintings in Addis Ababa, it has also revealed indigenous views and attitudes about the relationship between imagery and religious doctrine. For me, and hopefully other academics, the results of this study will lead to a new perspective on the sacred paintings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, as well as the patronage of these works and the roles played by the participants in the production of religious images. The function of priests in the patronage process in the 20th and 21st centuries that I find most fascinating is that they contribute as much to the production process and the resulting work of art as patrons and painters. The priests’ contribution to the process though is not material as is the case with the other two types of participants. A priest brings authority and knowledge to the dynamic of the 7 patronage process. They serve a multifaceted function of counselor, teacher and judge. This study is intended to draw attention to the pivotal contribution that Ethiopian Orthodox clerics play in the preservation of the artistic legacy of their faith. Creating a Complete Picture of Art Patronage This emphasis on priests in the patronage of Ethiopian Orthodox painting was by no means obvious for a standard model of art patronage, particularly in a modern and western context, which would have involved simply a patron and an artist. The incompleteness of this picture of the patronage process becomes apparent when examining what makes the imagery correct, and therefore usable, according to ecclesiastical authorities. The integral involvement of priests was made apparent in research conducted by Jacques Mercier. Although he is most famous for his studies of magic scrolls, which lie at the periphery of the authorized religious practices of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, a combination of his investigations into Ethiopian Orthodox icons and the research techniques he used made his work both relevant and influential for my own research. Instead of viewing these paintings from a single historical, aesthetic or iconographical point of view, he utilizes a combination of ethnological/sociological and theological approaches. This lends itself to a research path that is conducive to contextualization of information as well as opening channels for new and challenging information presented by indigenous sources. In his book Art that Heals.2 Mercier consults interviewees about different elements in the creation and use of imagery by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. Part of his research examines the role that asceticism plays in the creation and power of sacred images. During his research about the relationship between paintings and asceticism, Mercier interviewed a 2 Mercier, Jacques. Art that Heals: The Image as Medicine in Ethiopia. New York: Museum for African Art, 1997. 8 professor of theology at Addis Ababa University, named Professor Goha- Tsebah. In the old days, painters were pure [they led the lives of monks]. Their works were brought to the church and immediately set in a holy place. Today, in the age of science, anyone can paint. So that when a painting enters a church, it must be blessed and anointed. The works of the pure and the impure are not the same; but the blessing equalizes them.3 It is Mercier who described the practice of priests blessing paintings so they would be suitable for ritual use. According to Goha-Tsebah, paintings have to be blessed “…by any abbot, monk or priest known to be pure.” 4 before they can be used in a ritual manner.
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