The town of Dixan in Abyssinia.

Title

The town of Dixan in Abyssinia.

Description

Magnificent view of the city of "Dixan" in Abyssinia. The Empire of Abyssinia was a monarchy in East Africa in the present-day states of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Plate No. XV from "Twenty-Four Views in St. Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, Abyssinia and Egypt" after the original drawing by Henry Salt, engraved by D. Havell and published by William Miller.

c. 1809

Artist

Salt (1780-1827)

Salt, the son of a physician, was born in Lichfield on 14 June 1780. He trained as a portrait painter, first in Lichfield and then in London under Joseph Farington and John Hoppner. He started on an eastern tour, traveling on the British East India Company. Salt explored the Red Sea area, and in 1805 visited the Ethiopian highlands. He returned to England on 26 October 1806. Salt's paintings from the trip were used to Valentia's Voyages and Travels to India, published in 1809. The originals of all the drawings were kept by Valentia, as also the copper plates after Salt's death.

Historical Description

Since the 14th century, the Ethiopian rulers have sought contacts and alliances with the Christian empires in late medieval Europe. European knights of fortune came repeatedly to the Negus court, and European art was in vogue in Ethiopia. In 1493 the Portuguese Pêro da Covilhã reached the Negus court. He was supposed to promote a Portuguese-Ethiopian alliance since Portugal was then beginning to build its rule in the Indian Ocean. In 1543, Portuguese auxiliary troops under the son of Vasco da Gama, Cristóvão da Gama, supported the Ethiopians at the Negus' cry for help against the troops of Ahmed Graññ from the Sultanate of Adal, whom they inflicted devastating defeat. However, their plan to convert the country to Catholicism failed. In the course of colonialism, Ethiopia had to resist the influence of European powers, first under the Emperor Tewodros of the British Ethiopian expedition of 1868, then at the end of the 19th century under the influence of the Italians and their colony Eritrea. At the Battle of Adua, the Ethiopians in 1896, under Emperor Menelik II, repelled the Italian invaders. This result is still considered an important victory for an African army against a European army and has since become an integral part of Ethiopia's national consciousness.