{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1410926"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1410926/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2010DN4316/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2010DN4316/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2010DN4316","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010DN4313","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010DN4308","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010EA9158","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010DN4444","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010EF8345","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010DN4445","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010EF8344","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010DN4446","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010EF8330","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2010EF8343","copyright":"©Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1410926/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1410926","accessionNumber":"MSL/1903/2081","objectType":"Manuscript","titles":[{"title":"Homilies on the Archangel Michael","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"This manuscript contains a compilation of homilies for 12 months, a text which was established in the late 17th century or early 18th century. It was commissioned by an individual called Särtsä Mikaél who is represented standing to the right of St Michael on f. 58v. To the left of St Michael is his wife (whose name has been erased), and below are their two children. Särtsä Mikaél would have been interested in having this text, as St Michael was his patron saint. The first miniature in the manuscript shows a half-length portrait of the Virgin and Child (f. 1v). ","physicalDescription":"83 parchment leaves, with illuminations.\r\nWritten in Ge'ez (Ethiopic).\nVolume (Reid 79) with small booklet (Reid 79/1) sewn in. The booklet (a single bifolium) contains prayers relating to the Virgin and Child.\nContains two miniatures and twelve decorative head-pieces.\nBound in Ethiopia; square-cut wooden boards covered in leather stained brown; sewn on five sewing stations in the Ethiopian manner; knotted leather thong sewn on as end-bands.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"parchment","id":"AAT11851"}],"techniques":[{"text":"writing","id":"AAT54698"},{"text":"illumination","id":"AAT220539"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"National Art Library","id":"THES271541"},{"text":"Books","id":"THES48986"},{"text":"Manuscripts","id":"THES48922"},{"text":"Bookbinding","id":"THES253015"},{"text":"Africa","id":"THES49019"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"NAL","id":"THES48605"},"images":["2010DN4316","2010DN4313","2010DN4308","2010EA9158","2010DN4444","2010EF8345","2010DN4445","2010EF8344","2010DN4446","2010EF8330","2010EF8343"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"NAL","id":"THES251738"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Manuscript","id":"AAT28569"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Ethiopia","id":"x35090"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"late 18th century - early 19th century","earliest":"1750-01-01","latest":"1850-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"266","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Binding","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"166","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Binding","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"58","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"Binding","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"255","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"folio","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"167","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"folio","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"149","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"small bifolium insert","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"103","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"small bifolium insert","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"(1) Commissioned by Särtsä Mikaél who is represented on f. 58v to the left, beside his patron saint St Michael; his wife is depicted to the right on the same leaf. \r\n(2) A later owner called Wäldä Hanna has scratched Särtsä Mikaél's name and written his on the same page. \r\n(3) Collection of Henry White (1822-1900): sold at Sotheby’s, 21 April 1902, lot 595 (where described as ‘brought from Magdala 1868’). A handwritten note in a 19th-century hand pasted onto f. 81v states that ‘This manuscript was taken from Magdala in 1868 during the Abyssinian War. It contains homilies on the Archangel Michael. Certified by Prof. Douglas of the British Museum’ [ie Sir Robert Kennaway Douglas, 1838-1913]. A letter from Douglas, pasted onto the inside lower cover and dated ‘British Museum …14 March’, states that the manuscript contained homilies on the archangel Michael. \r\n(4) The manuscript was offered for sale again for the price of £3.18s soon after the White sale (description cut from an unidentified printed sale catalogue pasted onto the inside front cover, and mentioning the White provenance). \r\n(5) Bought by George Reid in late 1902 or 1903, at that unidentified sale: given to the V&A by George Reid with his manuscripts collection in 1903. ","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Manuscript, 'Homilies on the Archangel Michael', Ethiopia, late 18th century or early 19th century (?).","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Watson, R. <u>Western Illuminated Manuscripts.Victoria and Albert Museum. A catalogue of works in the National Art Library from the eleventh to the early twentieth century, with a complete account of the George Reid Collection</u>. London, 2011.","id":"AUTH348315"},"details":"vol. 3, no. 287 (as Ethiopian, c.1560).","free":""}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[{"text":"Siege of Maqdala","id":"V92"}],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>Maqdala 1868 display, 5 April 2018 - 30 June 2019</b>\r\n\r\n<b>Ethiopian manuscripts </b>｜ የኢትዮ��\r\n\nEthiopia (ኢትዮጵያ) is one of the world’s first Christian nations. The Kingdom of Aksum (አክሱም) in northern Ethiopia adopted the religion in around AD 330. These manuscripts are written in Ge’ez, the sacred language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The books contain prayers and hymns, while the protective scroll would have hung above its owner’s bed to ward off diseases and evil spirits. The manuscripts were first taken from the city of Gondar by Emperor Tewodros, who planned to build his own church at Maqdala. They were among the artefacts later seized by the British.\r\n\r\n<b>Book of homilies on the Archangel Michael</b> ｜ የሊቀ መለአክት Probably made in Gondar (ጎንደር),\n \nEthiopia, around 1560\r\nIllustrated parchment\r\nGiven to the V&amp;A by George Reid with his collection in 1903\r\nMSL/1903/2081\r\n\r\nAt my church, the prayer book is written in Ge’ez and Amharic, and both are read by the Father. The beauty of handwritten words on handmade paper is not lost through age. I benefit from these long traditions that have served many Ethiopian generations.\r\n- Almaz Tesfaye, V&amp;A Estates Services, member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church\r\n\r\nSacred texts of Ethiopia date back to the 4th century AD, painstakingly transcribed and illuminated by monks and religious scholars on goatskin parchment. Some still exist today, unseen by public eyes in remote monasteries and churches of the ancient realm.\r\n- Shango Baku, Rastafari actor, writer and activist<#caret>","date":{"text":"5 April 2018 - 30 June 2019","earliest":"2018-04-05","latest":"2019-06-30"}}],"partNumbers":["38041800532525"],"accessionNumberNum":"38041800532525","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"NAL barcode","id":"THES50330"},"number":"38041800532525"},{"type":{"text":"Reid Gift","id":"THES281104"},"number":"Reid 79"},{"type":{"text":"NAL Pressmark","id":"THES56809"},"number":"KRP.E.9"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-10-14","recordCreationDate":"2017-09-04","availableToBook":false}}