As the holy month approaches, many people race to prepare for it, following each according to his community and culture, many customs. This was the case since the first centuries of Islam, and many paintings recorded the breezes and atmosphere of Ramadan in several societies in different forms.
From the Near East to the Maghreb and through the Middle East, the month of Ramadan has carried throughout the ages an unending inspiration for many painters who recorded the spirits and atmosphere of this month in paintings that are still decades or centuries later expressing the atmosphere of Ramadan.
For example, the Egyptian plastic artist Mohsen Abu Al-Azm presents the atmosphere of Ramadan with insight into the Egyptian society, which is characterized by a certain Ramadan spirit and atmosphere.
Abu Al-Azm was able to convey this spirit in several paintings, such as Al-Masharati and The Konafa Seller and other works of his that make the viewer melt with nostalgia for the holy month.
"Al-Masharati" painting by the Egyptian plastic artist Mohsen Abu Al-Azm (communication sites)
In his painting "Al-Masharati", we see a young child carrying a lantern walking next to his al-Masharati grandfather or father in a night atmosphere, but full of joy and Ramadan decorations.
As usual, Abu al-Azm in his paintings focuses on the physical structure of the characters in the paintings in a caricature way that makes the viewer smile, as well as Al-Masharati and his grandson appear in a popular environment, which is the dominant theme in the works of Abu al-Azm, who tends to popular and ancient neighborhoods to convey the spirit and heritage of Egypt.
The "Bean Seller" panel (communication sites)
The same is true in his painting "The Bean Seller", in which a group of people appear around a bean cart, Ramadan decorations and lanterns hanging above them in a realistic Egyptian Ramadan atmosphere.
Here, the painter relies on the spirit of the Egyptian neighborhood as well, to convey one of the customs that Egyptians never neglect in Ramadan, which is fava beans as a basic meal accompanying Suhoor.
Ramadan in the life of the simple
The tendency to depict Ramadan in the lives of simple people was the passion of other painters such as Azim Azimzadeh, who lived from 1880 to 1943, an Azerbaijani painter who was awarded the title of People’s Painter in the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1927, and tends in his paintings to convey the concerns of the poor and the harshness of their lives.
Even in his painting "Ramadan with the Poor" drawn in 1938, he conveyed the Ramadan breakfast in the life of a very poor family that hardly finds the limit of subsistence.
In the painting, we find a Muslim family sitting on the floor around a few small dishes that are almost empty for breakfast. The family consisting of a father, mother, 3 children and a grandmother lives in a very modest house that is almost devoid of furniture.
"Ramadan with the Poor" by Azerbaijani painter Azim Azimzadeh (Pixabay)
Ramadan paintings that appeared motivated by social influences and cultural specificity are not limited to Abu Al-Azm or Azizadeh. The Palestinian-Jordanian plastic artist Imad Abu Shtayyeh painted Ramadan in a Palestinian spirit, and this is the custom in most of his works, as the Palestinian identity appears in the form of a Palestinian woman’s dress or The olive branch and the white pigeon or the Temple Mount.
In his painting “Ramadan”, a Palestinian young woman sits in a night atmosphere under a tree, her dress indicating her identity. She carries a niche, in front of her is a white dove, and behind her is the Al-Aqsa Mosque overlooking a large crescent to signify the beginning of the holy month, in an atmosphere dominated by calm and serenity due to the predominance of shades of blue.
In the "Ramadan" painting, a Palestinian young woman sits in the night atmosphere under a tree carrying a niche, in front of her is a white dove, and behind her is the Al-Aqsa Mosque (communication sites)
spirituality of worship
In the past, the spiritual atmosphere of the month of Ramadan and the complete change in the general mood of Muslims prompted many painters and orientalists to write and draw to record the moments of spirituality and serenity that overwhelmed the Islamic world at that period, for example the painting “Dinner Prayer” by the French orientalist Eugene Girardet ( 1853-1907).
Girardet made 8 trips to the Maghreb in the late 19th century, and found a lot of inspiration and comfort in the desert environment and its Bedouin and nomadic inhabitants, especially in the oases of Biskra, Kantara and Bousaada.
Unlike other orientalists, Girardet did not produce scenes of the Haramlek or the harem halls, but rather was interested in depicting the spiritual atmosphere experienced by Muslims in those areas.
In this painting, we see a number of Moroccan Bedouins praying dinner in the desert in a simple Ramadan atmosphere. The painting does not show any pretentiousness or worldly joys such as decorations, foods, and so on.
The painting is painted on the realistic doctrine, which is a doctrine in plastic art concerned with transferring the details of the scene as it is on the ground without additions from the painter. Girardet presented the spirituality and simplicity of the desert and Ramadan atmosphere with precision and high feeling side by side.