Naive Ethiopian Painting The first Italo-Ethiopian War, 1970s

About the Item

The painting captures the events of this battle: "Baratieri planned to execute an attack early morning 1st March Baratieri, to strike a surprise on the ethiopians, who outnumbered his troops. Arround midnight, three divisions (Dabormina, Albertone and Arimondi) ligned up into three slim lines and proceeded to attack, whilest the troops of Ellana stayed behind as reserves. By dawn, however, the three divisions separated due to the wild topography, and missed the agreed locations as a result of inaccuracies of the maps used (Albertone found himself a mountain peak away, in the hands of the Ethiopians). Menelik II planned move on the next day. The soldiers awakened early and performed religious rites at the moment of the Italian attack. The emperor called for his troops: Tekle Haymanot was in command of the right wing, Alula of the left wing and Makkonen and Mengesha the centre. The cavalry of Mikael oromo and the troops of the emperor and empress formed the back-up. The army set camp on the hillside over the valley, from here they put the forthcoming Italian troops under fire. The first clash took happened arround six. Albertone's troops endured two hours, until the capture of their commandor. At this point they started to escape towards the division lead by Arimondi. They stroke back multiple Ethiopian counter-attacks, when Menelik opted for introducing the reserves, that brought 25 000 warriors into play. This move meant the distruction of Arimondi's division and the Bersaglieri artillery. Meanwhile Dabormida Albertone hurried to be of help, but arrived late and announced withdrawal instead. He found himself in a narrow valley, where the oromo cavalry tore his division down. Baratieri's reserves were distroyed gradually on the slopes of Mount Belah, whilest the remaining Italians ran off to save their lives."

Dimensions:

Height: 31.5 in (80 cm)Width: 72.05 in (183 cm)Depth: 1.19 in (3 cm)

Materials and Techniques:

Canvas

Place of Origin:

Ethiopia

Period:

1970-1979

Date of Manufacture:

1970s

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use.