Medieval Art: Development, Significance, and Current Challenges of Mural Painted Churches With Gondarian Style

Paintings in Ethiopia have a long history.Ancient peoples of Ethiopia and others who had lived in caves developed a tradition of depicting animal motifs they domesticated and their daily activities.The growth of sacred painting in Ethiopia was a result of the introduction of Christianity in the 4th century AD.In addition the Ethiopian Orthodox Church approval of using paintings as a medium of teaching contributed for this development.Due to lack of evidences and insufficient researches conducted in the field little is known about ancient history of Ethiopian paintings.Most of the researches conducted focused on medieval period religious paintings and lately developed.The aim of this study is to investigate the development, significance, and challenges of churches with murals of the Gondarian painting style.The study was qualitative in approach and descriptive in design.In order to get valuable information for the study both primary and secondary sources were collected through interview, observation, and review of related literatures.And the data obtained through the above mentioned data gathering tools were analyzed qualitatively.The finding revealed that medieval period in Ethiopia witnessed the development of religious paintings mainly during the Gondarian period.Religious paintings of the period painted mainly on foundations of parchments, wall, and wood panel.Like other tourist attractions, wall paintings contributed a lot in attracting both domestic and international tourists.Due to several man-made and natural problems those wall paintings faced serious challenges which need an immediate intervention from the concerned bodies.