Icon and narration in eighteenth‐century Christian Egypt: the works of Yuhanna al‐Armani al‐Qudsi and Ibrahim al‐Nasikh

Abstract

The many icons painted by Yuhanna, an Armenian from Jerusalem, and/or Ibrahim, a Coptic scribe, suggest that they headed an important workshop in eighteenth‐century Cairo, with links to the post‐Byzantine schools of Greater Syria, particularly Aleppo and Jerusalem. Their depictions of biblical episodes and hagiographical narratives often articulate words and images to clarify the story being told and the identity of the holy person represented. The gradual breakdown of Ottoman organization in the eighteenth century, partly due to Western influence, led to an influx of Christians from Greater Syria and a renewal of confidence in the local Coptic community. Coptic patrons shared in the wider revival of Egyptian Muslim scholarship, applying the common emphasis on grammar and rhetoric to the recovery of their own cultural memory. This was reflected in the taste for complex verbal‐visual devices in icons, the iconography of which included many local martyr saints, reinforcing Coptic identity. Tania C. Tribe lectures in art history and theory in the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She has a special interest in the arts of Christian north‐eastern Africa, and has published several articles in this field. She is currently preparing a book on the visual culture of Christian Egypt.