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Carved marble bas-relief
(نحت غائر من الرخام المنحوت)

Title	Carved marble bas-relief
Title Original	نحت غائر من الرخام المنحوت
Publication Date:	4th and 5th centuries AH / 10th and 11th centuries AD
Publication Place	- Bardo Museum; Tunisia
Subject	Carved marble.
Type	Other
Language	Undetermined
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	No
Physical Dimensions	الطول: 53 سم؛ العرض: 35 سم
Library:	Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID	E 16
Record ID	object;ISL;tn;Mus01_A;35;ar
Library Location	Bardo Museum; Tunisia
Date	4th and 5th centuries AH / 10th and 11th centuries AD
Notes	In the right part of the bas-relief there is a seated figure, wearing a richly embroidered, long-sleeved shirt. The heavy crown placed on his head indicates that he is a king or a military leader. With his right hand he raises a cup to his mouth, and to the right of this figure is a musician playing the flute. The man, whose head is covered with a scarf, is wearing a shirt whose sleeves are decorated with a ribbon embroidered with geometric shapes. His eyes are almond-shaped and very bulging. This bas-relief is one of the rare figures in African (Tunisian) art that embodies a living scene. The artist did not care at all about the placement of anatomical details. The musician's face has no age, no feature, no expression. It is most likely that this piece has its roots in a very distant African (Tunisian) past. Some art historians find that this piece is reminiscent in its style of many of the evidences that the African-Romans presented to Saturn, Caelestis. Historians focus on common points such as frontality, rigidity in posture, indifference to space, and finally the extreme importance given to the eyes. However, comparison with several works carved on ivory or wood in Umayyad Spain, Fatimid Egypt, and the Abbasid East provides surprising similarities with the figures represented on Mahdia bas-relief, most notably the figure of the flute player, the characters’ clothing and scarves, as well as the crown, which some have described as Norman, which is found on ivory panels from Fatimid Egypt, and on Mesopotamian ceramics from the same period.
Sample Text	Mourad Rammah “Carved marble bas-relief” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tn;Mus01_A;35;ar

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Carved marble bas-relief

(نحت غائر من الرخام المنحوت)

Publication Date 4th and 5th centuries AH / 10th and 11th centuries AD

Publication Place - Bardo Museum; Tunisia

Subject Carved marble.

Type Other

Language Undetermined

Digital Yes

Manuscript No

Physical Dimensions الطول: 53 سم؛ العرض: 35 سم

Library Museum With No Frontiers

Library Asset ID E 16

Record ID object;ISL;tn;Mus01_A;35;ar

Library Location Bardo Museum; Tunisia

Date 4th and 5th centuries AH / 10th and 11th centuries AD

Notes In the right part of the bas-relief there is a seated figure, wearing a richly embroidered, long-sleeved shirt. The heavy crown placed on his head indicates that he is a king or a military leader. With his right hand he raises a cup to his mouth, and to the right of this figure is a musician playing the flute. The man, whose head is covered with a scarf, is wearing a shirt whose sleeves are decorated with a ribbon embroidered with geometric shapes. His eyes are almond-shaped and very bulging. This bas-relief is one of the rare figures in African (Tunisian) art that embodies a living scene. The artist did not care at all about the placement of anatomical details. The musician's face has no age, no feature, no expression. It is most likely that this piece has its roots in a very distant African (Tunisian) past. Some art historians find that this piece is reminiscent in its style of many of the evidences that the African-Romans presented to Saturn, Caelestis. Historians focus on common points such as frontality, rigidity in posture, indifference to space, and finally the extreme importance given to the eyes. However, comparison with several works carved on ivory or wood in Umayyad Spain, Fatimid Egypt, and the Abbasid East provides surprising similarities with the figures represented on Mahdia bas-relief, most notably the figure of the flute player, the characters’ clothing and scarves, as well as the crown, which some have described as Norman, which is found on ivory panels from Fatimid Egypt, and on Mesopotamian ceramics from the same period.

Sample Text Mourad Rammah “Carved marble bas-relief” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;tn;Mus01_A;35;ar