Icon

This large icon, meant to be seen by many people, was carried in church processions on holy days. The subject of Christ crowned with thorns and flanked by tormentors was modeled after Ethiopia's famous imperial icon that was carried into battle by the emperor's army.

Diptych with a half figure of Christ crowned with thorns, flanked by two small men in Turkish costume striking his head, Descent from the Cross with Mary twice, Joseph of Arimithea, Nicodemus, Salome and Elizabeth. The diptych icon has iron hinges, a hand hammered clasp and a leather bound back.

Joseph and Patricia Brumit, Sun City West, 1968 to 2004

BIG/small, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., January 17-July 23, 2006

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