Publication Place
-
The National Museum in Damascus
Subject
Carved limestone.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
الارتفاع: 1.06م ؛ العرض: 0.9م
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
09
Record ID
object;ISL;sy;Mus01;5;ar
Library Location
The National Museum in Damascus
Notes
In Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi, located 80 km southwest of the city of Palmyra, a large group of relief sculptures in human, animal, and plant forms were found. The piece shown here is one of these sculptures. This prominent sculpture was found on the second floor of the palace, and it adorns the interior facade that overlooks the corridor overlooking the palace’s inner courtyard. The piece is the lower part of a statue of a man sitting on a throne with his legs resting on a small chair decorated in the form of the facade of a building composed of a portico supported by seven arches, each of which rests on a pair of columns. As for the seated man, he is wearing a loose robe with a robe underneath, and wearing brocade slippers. It is believed that this statue is of Caliph Hisham bin Abdul Malik, who ordered the construction of the palace, and this is evident from his luxurious clothing, which shows traces of red, green, and brown colors. The chair under his feet indicates that this man is the ruler of the world, because this style of dress and sculpture is influenced by Sassanian art, which shows the king with these arches under his feet to express his control and the extension of his authority. Making statues from plaster was common in the civilizations of Iraq, Iran, and Central Asia in pre-Islamic times. However, the presence of highly precise, three-dimensional carved stone statues such as this piece indicates an evolution in the traditions of Eastern statues. It is possible to compare such stone statues to the sculptures of Palmyra cemeteries that date back to pre-Islam.
Sample Text
Mona al-Moadin “The lower part of a statue” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;sy;Mus01;5;ar
