Floor painting
Damascus, Syria
National Museum of Damascus
About National Museum of Damascus, Damascus
Caliph Hisham bin 'Abd al-Malik (r. AH 105–25 / AD 724–43)
Hegira 109 / AD 727
QHG
Plaster, painted using the secco technique.
Length 5.21 m, width 4.43 m
Umayyad
Syrian Desert, 80 km southwest of Palmyra.
Islamic art began as a continuation of elements from previous periods that were common and well-known in the area. This panel offers a clear example of the influence of Roman myths. It was painted using the secco technique, where the paint is applied only after the plaster is dried and then the plaster is remoistened with a bit of water. This panel covered the floor of the reception hall in the west wing of the Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, which is located in the Syrian Desert between Damascus and Palmyra.
The panel is rectangular with a vine-scroll border and allegorical figures. A female portrait within a circular frame dominates the composition. She faces the viewer in a frontal position. Her face is welcoming and in her hands she offers a cloth filled with colourful fruits. She wears a necklace around her neck beneath which a snake coils. Archaeologists consider the woman in this painting to be Gaea, the mother-goddess of Roman mythology who emerges bountifully out of the Earth. The circle surrounding her is defined by two white lines filled-in in red and accentuated by smaller white circles, each containing a bouquet of flowers.
The upper part of the painting shows two “marine centaurs” that are half man and half beast. They are surrounded by foliage and both grasp a spear in their left hand and reach out with their right. In the lower part of the painting there is a group of animals, including two cranes, two foxes, and a dog.
This floor painting belonged in the reception hall, and in the upper section of it there are traces of the round column that stood on top of it.
This fresco painting comes from the Umayyad palace Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi in the deserts of Syria. It displays an image from classical Roman mythology, the earth goddess, Gaea, signifying bounty and fruitfulness. It also indicates artistic and cultural continuity from Late Antiquity to early Islam.
The floor, along with the rest of the palace complex, was dated according to the inscription on the door lintel of the khan adjoining the palace. The lintel carries the date AH 109 (AD 727) and indicates that the complex was built by Caliph Hisham bin Abd al-Malik.
The floor painting was discovered during the 1936 French excavation of Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, which was led by archaeologist Daniel Schlumberger. It was the discovery of this site that led to the development of the Islamic Arts section in the Damascus National Museum. This floor painting, along with the palace's plaster façade which now adorns the museum's entry, were prepared for relocation at the National Museum during the 1940s. The Umayyad wing was formally inaugurated in 1950.
The floor painting was produced in situ at Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi.
Ettinghausen, R., Arab Painting, Lausanne, 1962, p.35.
Grabar, O., Formation of Islamic Art, New Haven, 1987, fig. 88.
Fowden, G., Qusayr 'Amra: Art and the Umayyad Elite in Late Antique Syria, California, 2004, p.71; fig. 22.
Schlumberger, D., “Deux fresques Omeyyades”, Syria, XXV, 1946–8, pp.86–102.
Schlumberger, D., Qasr el-Heir el-Gharbi, Paris, 1986, XIV, plate 35.
Mona al-Moadin "Floor painting" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;sy;Mus01;1;en
MWNF Working Number: SY 01
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