Prayer In The Mosque Analysis

Orientalism: The European view of ‘its’ East

In the early eighteenth century, a new area of study appeared into society: Orientalism. Orientalism had two essential themes; firstly, Orientalism was a new school of art that developed in the eighteenth century and secondly it was also a new area of scholarship, both of which focused upon the Orient, the Asian world. With this, because of Europe’s increased focus upon the Asian world in the eighteenth century, it was only natural that Orientalism became a growing area of study in this era. More so, Orientalism was an extremely significant type of scholarship at the time, because it let European powers study the Asian World in a way which had not yet been pursued. However, while Orientalism

While scholarship was heavily used to delve into Orientalism, art was nonetheless a key factor of Orientalism, and helped the Occident gain a glance into the Asian life. More specifically, for the purposes of this essay I will be analyzing Jean–Léon Gérôme’s “Prayer in the Mosque”, an Orientalist painting finished in 1871 (see appendix 1). Gérôme’s work was heavily influenced by the Orient, and he was one of the major French painters of the time that specifically focused on the orient after a voyage he took to Egypt in

Gérôme is not biased in his work and does not try to display the Orient in a negative context. Rather, he very accurately painted a normal scene of prayer that occurred in Cairo Egypt. A viewer can clearly see the Imam and his fellow Muslim brothers all joining in prayer on top of their jamanaz, the Islamic prayer rugs. The painting is one of serenity and peace, and quite accurately illuminates the peaceful spirit of Islam. However, the painting also shows the daily life of many people living in the Orient; it truly does capture a more Asian essence opposed to a European Christian backdrop. In short, the artwork not only holds an Islamic nature but goes beyond to paint a scene of a daily practice in the