Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Scroll with Angels and Talismans
This scroll was created in the eighteenth century for a woman named Marta. Having once been possessed by a devil, she had this prayer scroll made as a way to ward off evil. Containing prayers against demons, as well as talismans and a depiction of a guardian angel (perhaps Phanuel, who is invoked in one of the prayers), the scroll was intended to be worn as an apotropaic device. Ethiopian prayer scrolls were made to be the length of the person who commissioned them, thereby protecting the owner from head to toe; this one is 165.7 cm, making Marta 5'5" tall.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
James St. Lawrence O'Toole [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1978, by gift.
Exhibitions
| 2006-2007 | Angels of Light: Ethiopian Art from the Walters Art Museum. Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham; Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton; Museum of Biblical Art, New York. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 8/1/1985 | Treatment | re-housed |
Geographies
Northern Ethiopia (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Overall: H: 65 1/4 × W: 3 3/16 in. (165.7 × 8.1 cm)
Framed: H: 73 1/4 × W: 13 3/8 × D: 1 1/8 in. (186 × 34 × 2.8 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. James St. Lawrence O'Toole, 1978
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
W.788