Interior of a Mosque or the Mimbar of the Great Mosque at Damascus

Interior of a Mosque or the Mimbar of the Great Mosque at Damascus, undated and held in the Government Art Collection, depicts the interior of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus — one of the oldest and most historically significant mosques in the world, built on the site of a Roman temple and Byzantine cathedral. The mimbar (pulpit) is among the most architecturally significant elements of mosque interiors, typically an elaborately carved wooden structure from which the imam delivers the Friday sermon. Leighton visited Damascus in 1873 and made extensive studies of its Islamic architecture. His engagement with Islamic interior architecture was unusually serious among Victorian painters and was reflected in the Arab Hall he constructed at his Holland Park home using authentic Iznik tiles and carved woodwork.

The technical challenge of a mosque interior involves managing the complex light conditions created by the high windows and marble-tiled surfaces of a major Islamic sacred space. Leighton must distinguish multiple stone types and carved wooden surfaces while rendering the quality of diffused overhead light that fills the space. The geometry of Islamic architectural decoration — geometric, calligraphic, and arabesque patterns — requires patient analytical rendering.