Coptic-Ethiopian Artistic Interactions: The Issues of the Nursing Virgin and St George Slaying the Dragon

Abstract

The long-term contacts between the Coptic and the Ethiopian Churches also manifested itself in artistic interaction. However, the search for tangible evidence is seriously hampered by the fact that several well-preserved medieval decoration programmes in Ethiopian churches, in particular in and near Lalibälä, were created in the final phase of Coptic artistic production, that is, the later part of the thirteenth century. To illustrate the complexity of the research on the transmission of scenes, this article focuses on two subjects believed to have been distinct from both traditions: the breastfeeding Virgin and St George slaying the Dragon. Realizing that the hypothetic transmission of these motifs can only be demonstrated in the case of a chronological overlap in their occurrence in both countries, our attention principally concerns the extent of their popularity in Egypt. The main question is if the nursing Virgin and St George the dragon-slayer can really be regarded as distinctively Coptic.