The paintings in St. George Church in Addis Ababa as a method of conveying information about history and power in 20th -century Ethiopia

In one of the most important churches in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), there is a panel containing several paintings. They are exact copies of photographs showing Emperor Haile Sellasie I during the war against Italy (1935-1941). The paint-ings were copied from frequently published, and thus well-known, photographs, which served imperial propaganda to show the Emperor’s role in fighting for Ethiopia’s independ-ence. Using the paintings as source material, it is the aim of this article to discuss specific propagandistic methods applied in Ethiopia under Haile Sellasie to transmit a message about power and history, and to present the intended image of the Emperor to his subjects.