Mihrab (painting) |
Published in Spain 
- Social interactions and entertainment - 0 - 16 Jul 23 00:03
Mihrab, also known as Genesis is a 1901 painting by Turkish painter Osman Hamdi Bey.
The painting was first exhibited in May 1903 at the Royal Academy Exhibition in London under the French name La Genèse, which has been interpreted as a reference to the subjects possible pregnancy. It is unclear if the name came from the organizers or Osman Hamdi Bey himself.
The present location of the painting is unknown.Â
The painting depicts a woman wearing a bright yellow decollete dress and sitting on a Quran lectern. Behind the woman is a tiled mihrab (a niche indicating the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca). On the floor at her feet are several large religious books strewn around.  There is an incense burner in the paintings foreground.The identity of the female figure is disputed: it has been variously identified as the painters wife or his daughter Leyla.
The woman is sitting in the Rehal, where the Quran is usually placed; she has displaced the Quran and is now herself the focus of attention in this painting. The move to a more secular focus is shown by the womans European dress which contrasts greatly with what would be expected in a mosque.Â
This painting, like other paintings by Osman Hamdi Bey, comments on the museum culture of his time. All of the items which we see surrounding the woman were part of the Ottoman Imperial Museums collections. The museum collected religious items but by doing so secularised them, making them into objects which are valued for their aesthetic rather than religious qualities.
The painting has also been seen as blasphemic and anti-Islam, as the woman is trampling over religious books and sitting where the Quran should be; as Edhem Eldem says: it is probably more difficult to imagine a more offensive way of attacking the very foundations of Islamic tradition in the name of promoting female independence and autonomy.
Support
FozQChocolatatavi29Galadrael
Comments (0)
Newspaper from Colombia
Facebook
Instagram
Discord
Reddit