English: The practice of wearing small icons suspended from the neck in cloth or leather bags seems to date to the second half of the 15th century. They were believed to protect against evil. Later a pierced suspension cylinder would make the icons a true pendant form. While this icon has a single opening, double-sided pendants would become more common in the 17th and 18th centuries. While usually concealed by their protective wrappings, the pendant exteriors would be painted like this example or elaborately carved. The subject matter and style of the images relates to the larger panel icons. Typically Mary is shown in a blue shawl, holding a barefoot Christ child, a pose that was influenced by an Italian engraving (copied from an icon in Rome's Santa Maria Maggiore), which Jesuit missionaries introduced to Ethiopia early in the 17th century. The inclusion of the archangels Michael and Gabriel, and the juxtaposition of Mary and St. George are traditional Ethiopian additions to the iconography. The equestrian figure is one of a series of young warrior saints in Ethiopian art that are generally identified by the color of the horse. A white horse usually signifies St. George. Here the spear has a cross form finial and the serpent dragon that often appears is absent. Indeed several details commonly found have been simplified or eliminated (e.g. Christ's book, Mary's handkerchief) perhaps because of size or the inclination of the artist. The hand gesture of the Christ child, where He reaches for Mary rather than making a benediction, when combined with his gaze on her face, conveys a more tender variation on the standard pose.