Gustav Bauernfeind German, 1848-1904

The origins of this composition, which Bauernfeind also painted with minor differences as an oil dated 1891, can be traced back to Bauernfeind's diary entry of 9 April 1889, which records how, in Damascus, he came upon the side entrance of a small mosque leading to its courtyard. In a letter Bauernfeind later described the scene in some detail:

'Between the various stalls of a covered bazaar street there opens up a small side entrance of a mosque, inviting the faithful to its luminous court and playing fountain. The muezzin has called the hour of prayer, and some people followed the call. They put their shoes, weapons, and other burdens under the care of the warden. The red-top boots and easy sandals which are worn in the interior of Arabia as well as the long guns and diverse arms, show us that some Bedouins have made use of their stay in town to pray at the shrine of a hero of yore. Some two or three inhabitants of the neighbourhood of Damascus, in their many-coloured cloaks, divested themselves at the threshold of their clumsy shoes, whilst a seller of lemonade has set down his glass jar on a bench; a lemon is stuck on the peculiar brass mouthpiece of the former. On a platter we see some flat bread cakes strewn with sesame and rings; also plums, whose home is said to be Damascus. A black scholar squats on the floor, near the entrance, zealously reading the Koran whilst his hands play with a rosary. His many-coloured coat is ornamented with holy writings. [...]The niche for prayer is at the right hand of the marble pillar, whilst to the left is the grave of the saint, with his weapons, his large rosary, tambourine and the horn of an ibex. [...] A leader in prayer stands high up, whilst behind him the devout follow him at various paces of quickness' (Petra Kühner, Gustav Bauernfeind, Gemälde und Aquarelle, Frankfurt/M, 1995, p.218).