Name of Object:

Fresco panel: ‘Seated Bear Playing a Musical Instrument’

Location:

Jordan

Holding Museum:

In situ at Qusayr ‘Amra

About In situ at Qusayr ‘Amra,

Original Owner:

Possibly Al-Walid II (r. AH 125–6 / AD 743–4)

Date of Object:

Hegira, first third of the 2nd century / AD first half of the 8th century

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Fresco.

Dimensions:

n/a

Period / Dynasty:

Umayyad

Provenance:

Qusayr Amra, Jordan.

Description:

A fresco in one of the diamond-shaped sections in the apodyterium or dressing room belonging to the bath complex (hammam) at Qusayr ‘Amra. It depicts a bear playing a musical instrument; seated on a stool, the bear's left leg is dangling, while the right one is bent and rests on the stool, touching the left thigh. He plays a long-handled, stringed musical instrument which looks like an `ud. Next to the bear is a standing monkey clapping his front paws. It is likely that this scene depicts two people masquerading as a monkey and a bear.

View Short Description

Fresco from the baths complex at Qusayr ‘Amra, of a bear playing a musical instrument. Next to the bear is a standing monkey clapping its front paws. It is likely that this scene depicts two people masquerading as animals.

How date and origin were established:

Qusayr 'Amra and its frescos date to the Umayyad period, an accurate dating achieved primarily through analysis of some of the paintings in situ, the most important being the fresco panel depicting six rulers; 'The Family of Kings'. Their names, written above their heads in Arabic and Greek, identify them as: 'Caesar', the Byzantine emperor; 'Kisra', the Sasanian emperor; the king of Abbyssinia (Ethiopia); and 'Roderick', the Visigothic king of Spain. Historical inference has established the identities of the other two as the emperor of China and the ruling prince 'khaqan' of the Turks. Since Roderick ruled for only one year before he was killed in AH 92 / AD 711, this date provides a terminus post quem for construction of the palace.

How Object was obtained:

In situ at Qusayr Amra.

How provenance was established:

The fresco is located in the apodyterium (vestry) of the bath complex (hammam) at Qusayr ‘Amra.

Selected bibliography:

Almagro, M., Qusayr ‘Amra, Madrid, 1975, Lamina XLII
Ettinghausen, R., "The Dance with Zoomorphic Masks and other Forms of Entertainment seen in Islamic Art" In Arabic and Islamic Studies in Honour of H. A. R. Gibb, Cambridge, Mass., 1965, p.219.
Fowden, G., Qusayr ‘Amra: Art and the Umayyad Elite in Late Antique Syria, L.A., 2004, p.68; fig. 19.

Citation of this web page:

Ghazi Bisheh "Fresco panel: ‘Seated Bear Playing a Musical Instrument’" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;jo;Mus01_H;5;en

Prepared by: Ghazi BishehGhazi Bisheh

Ghazi Bisheh is an archaeologist and former Director General of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. He studied archaeology at the University of Jordan, and history of Islamic art and architecture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, from where he holds his Ph.D. He was affiliated to the Department of Antiquities of Jordan for most of the period between 1980 and 1999, and was its Director General twice (1988–91 and 1995–9). He was also an associate professor of archaeology at Yarmouk University during the early 1990s. He is the author of numerous publications, including The Umayyads: The Rise of Islamic Art (Brussels: Museum With No Frontiers, 2000), of which he is a co-author. He has carried out excavation work both inside and outside Jordan in sites such as Qasr al-Hallabat, Madaba, Carthage and Bahrain. He is a member of the German Archaeological Institute and is the Deputy Director of the International Council of Museums for the Arab countries.

Copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: JO 05

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