A Mosque Cairo John Singer Sargent Buy Art Prints Now
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Tom Gurney BSc (Hons) is an art history expert with over 20 years experience
Published on June 19, 2020 / Updated on October 14, 2023
Email: tomgurney1@gmail.com / Phone: +44 7429 011000

Religion is usually one of the topics that are described in paintings. Artists find various motives and perspectives as to why they get to draw; or what pushes them to paint.

There are numerous reasons as to why artists paint. These include religion, lifestyle, tradition, gender, nature among others. Artists usually get to express their thoughts and feelings about a particular place or an individual. John Singer Sargent got to express his thought of the Muslim religion by brushing a painting of a mosque in Cairo titled "A Mosque Cairo". The profound painter was able to give a detailed description of how the mosque looked like. This shows that he had been traveling a lot and was highly interested in both Cairo and Egypt as a whole. You can also tell that he visited Egypt many times during his lifetime. However, the reasons behind the painting are unknown up to date nor can we say which mosque he painted.

Although the painting is about the walls and floors of the mosque, the artist gives a detailed description of how it looked like. From the piece of art, you can tell that the mosque was designed by a group of well-established architects. The pillars at the mosque also tell us that the mosque was well engineered and had a countless number of floors in it. We can also say that the mosque took quite a long period to build to make it what it is in painting. The painting also describes the mosque as well established, built and adequately decorated. The artist is able to bring an illusion into our minds of how the mosque looked like. The walls at the mosque are correctly done and well designed. The pillars of the mosque are made of concrete and well decorated in color. This shows that the designers of the mosque were well educated about color and how one could match each color to bring out a perfect view.

From the painting with can conclude that the artist was highly interested in architecture as well as religion. One can also say that he must have visited a mosque at a point in his life and was stunned by what he saw and wanted to show the world how beautiful mosques were in Cairo. It is also safe to say that Sargent providing a painting of the mosque does not tell us about his religion.