The Muharram procession
1795
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1795
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
The Muharram procession is a 1795 paint by Unknown, a Orientalism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows a crowded street where people carry colorful bamboo and paper tomb models on poles. The artist copied it from an earlier work by George Farington, who lived in India in the 1780s. The scene looks lively, with men in turbans and bright clothes marching in rows. The artist used soft colors to show distance and depth in the crowd. This trick came from European painting styles that traveled to India. You can see it in how the buildings fade toward the back. Check out the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more of these festival scenes.
The painting depicts a Muharram procession in which Shiah Muslims carry miniature replicas of the tombs of Hasan and Husain, known as 'tazias,' toward the river for immersion. It is one of nine watercolours illustrating a durbar at the Murshidabad court and various Hindu and Muslim festivals, likely copied from an original oil painting by George Farington, who worked in Murshidabad from 1785 until his death in 1788. The festival commemorates the deaths of these two grandsons of the Prophet Muhammad, whom Shiah Muslims consider the rightful heirs to his caliphate. The volume containing these…
Read the full account in the museum source.
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