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Shiite portable altar

1re moitié du XXe siècle

Mucem

Mucem
Marseilles, France

This private portable altar opens like a box, within which two painted images face one another. An object of piety typical of the late 19th century, it was reserved for private use in the Iranian popular tradition, in which images play a key role in prayer and individual meditation. On the left, Mohammed is shown giving the Quran to Ali. In the Shiite faith, the prophecy was not completed by Mohammed but instead extended to Ali, his cousin and son-in-law whose two sons, Hassan and Hussein, respectively became the second and third imams after him. The figures’ faces are haloed and veiled, not out of modesty but because a believer’s gaze could not bear the radiance emanating from the imams, according to Shiite theology. This altar was acquired at Jomeh Bazaar in Tehran, held on Friday afternoons on Nâser Khosrow Avenue. This type of object, which is rare in a museum collection, emphasizes the fact that the functions and uses of images vary tremendously in the popular religious practice of modern and contemporary Islam.

Details

  • Title: Shiite portable altar
  • Date Created: 1re moitié du XXe siècle
  • Location Created: Tehran, Iran
  • Physical Dimensions: 26,6 x 20,3 x 4,4 cm
  • Provenance: Donated by Ziva Vesel
  • Type: Metal, paint, wood and glass

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