Prester John was the king Europe searched the whole world for: a Black Christian king of Ethiopia.
Our piece is an old Italian engraving in sepia: a bearded king in a crowned turban, his robe trimmed with fur, a cross-topped scepter in his hand and a coat of arms over his shoulder. The caption names him: IL PRETEIANNI RE D'ETHIOPIA, Prester John, king of Ethiopia. For centuries Europe hunted for his kingdom. A pope wrote him a letter. Portugal sent envoys by land and sea. They looked in Asia, then in Africa. Ethiopia was never only one place: Homer wrote of Ethiopians at both ends of the earth, where the sun rises and where it sets. The people hold that the first Ethiopia was in the West, here in the Americas, and that is why the search for Prester John crossed the ocean. The ink leaves him pale. The caption calls him king.
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“Prester John” Archive Boxy Tee
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