medievalpoc: Cristofano dell’Altissimo Portrait of Lebna Dengel/Emperor Dawit II of Ethiopia Italy (c. 1550s) From Revealing the African Presence in Renaissance Europe: Then there are extraordinary cases of African rulers who… commissioned European-style portraits of themselves to send to Europe. Emperor Dawit II of Ethiopia, courted by the Portuguese for trading rights and honored as the living embodiment of Prester John, the legendary black priest-king of a distant empire. It had been hoped since the time of the Crusades, that Prester John would aid Christian Europe against Islam if only he could be located. Copies of the original portrait, commissioned by Dawit, were widely coveted for a series of “illustrious men and women.” [source] [source] [source]
