Mohammed Image Archive3

8/4/2019 Mohammed Image Archive3

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Mohammed Image Archive

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European Medieval and Renaissance Images

Medieval and Renaissance Christian and secular artists had no religious restrictionsregarding depictions of Mohammed, and were free to show his face and body in theirentirety.

Illustration depicting a schematized Mohammed from an early medieval Latintranslation of the Koran, from a manuscript in la Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, in Paris.

This may be the earliest known depiction of Mohammed, possibly dating from themid-12th century. This reproduction is from the book Naissance de l'Europe, byRobert S. Lopez (published 1962) (taken from Deux traductions latines du Coran, byMarie-Therese D'Alverny [published 1948]).(Hat tip: joker-x.)



Mohammed preaching, with historically inaccurate landscape and clothing (acommon problem in medieval and Renaissance paintings, which usually showedfashions contemporary with the time the painting was made, rather than costumesof the era depicted ). Illustration ca. 1400-1425, taken from Boccaccio's De Casibus

Virorum Illustrium (early 15th-century French translation by Laurent de Premierfait);drawn by the "Master of Rohan." The manuscript is currently in the BibliothèqueNationale de France. The same illustration in the context of its manuscript page canbe seen here. According to the iconography of the time, the dove on Mohammed'sshoulder indicates that he is a false prophet trying to convince his listeners that he isassociated with the Holy Spirit (of which the dove is a symbol).



This picture is of an early Renaissance fresco in Bologna's Church of San Petronio,created by Giovanni da Modena and depicting Mohammed being tortured in Hell.(Hat tip: brenda.)

In 2002, Islamic extremists plotted to blow up the church in order to destroy theimage.





This wooden sculpture in the Church of Our Dear Lady in Dendermonde, Belgiumdepicts Mohammed on the ground, clutching the Koran, being trampled on by

angels. As first reported at The Brussels Journal, "The sculpture represents thetriumph of Christianity over Islam." It was carved by the 17th-century sculptorMattheus van Beveren.(Hat tip: Matthias and foreign devil.)



This photo shows the entire sculptural group, with the angels holding up the pulpit asthey stand on Mohammed.





An earlier scene of Mohammed being trampled was depicted in this ca. 1500woodblock print, which was used and reused in various liturgical books of the era. It

shows the allegorical Faith ("Foy") stepping on Mohammed ("Machomet") whopresumably represents heresy or disbelief. The image on the left shows a closeup of the print, while the one on the right shows another version of it in context on amanuscript page. A full series of images showing the traditional Virtues stepping onhistorical tyrants can be found here (including Faith stepping on Mohammed), here(Justice stepping on Nero), here (Force steps on "Holoferne") and here (Temperancesteps on Tarquin).(Hat tip: Martin H.)



This 1508 engraving by Dutch artist Lucas van Leyden illustrates a legend aboutMohammed that circulated in Europe during the medieval era; according to a 1908New York Times article which reprinted this image, "The famous print of the year,1508, is an illustration of the story of the Prophet Mohammed and the Monk Sergius.Mohammed, when in company with his friend Sergius, drank too much wine and fellasleep. Before he awakened a soldier killed Sergius and placed the sword in

Mohammed's hand. When the prophet wakened the soldier and his companions toldhim that while drunk he had slain the monk. Therefore Mohammed forbade thedrinking of wine by his followers." A high-resolution reproduction of this engravingcan be viewed here, and a museum catalog listing giving all its specifics is here,which states the current location of the print as the Fine Arts Museums of SanFrancisco.(Hat tip: Martin H.)



Here's a close-up detail of the same picture, showing Mohammed asleep on the leftand the soldier on the right placing the sword on his lap. Notice, as usual,Mohammed's anachronistic and culturally inaccurate clothing.

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The church in the town of Gothem on the Swedish Island of Gotland features this wallpainting, which depicts (from left to right) the Pope, St. Christopher, baby Jesus, andMohammed. According to this scholarly paper (pdf file), "An early example of howMuhammad was used in the early reformation comes from a wall painting in theGothem church on Gotland (an island situated on the East coast of Sweden) from themiddle of the 16th century. The painting depicts St Christopher, Jesus as a child, the

Pope and Mohammad. St Christopher caries the child on his shoulder, saving it fromthe water in which the Pope and Muhammad perish. How do we understand thispainting? The propaganda is directed towards Catholicism. The drowning, namelesspope is humiliated by being associated with Muhammad and Islam; the falseprophets perish together."

The photos seen here were taken by a Danish photographer and originally posted ona site that is no longer online.(Hat tip: Martin.)

Link directly to this section about the Gothem church paintings.



Here is a close-up detail of the Mohammed figure. According to these two Swedish

articles, the Gothem church paintings were undergoing renovation when the Danishcartoon controversy broke, and local experts, fearful that Islamists would attack thechurch, began to claim that the painting depicts not Mohammed the Prophet, butinstead the Ottoman Sultan Mohammed IV (better known as Mehmed IV), who had asimilar style of mustache. But Mehmet IV was Sultan during the failed Seige of Vienna in the late 17th century, which was over a century after the painting isthought to have been created. More likely is that the artist drew Mohammed theProphet sporting the type of mustache that was popular at the time the painting wasmade. Interestingly, these wall paintings were probably made during the period thatGotland was part of Denmark, making this the original Danish Mohammed cartoon.(Thanks to Martin for the translations.)



This mezzotint print by German artist Johan-Jacob Haid was made in the mid-1700s,and is almost certainly a portrait of Mohammed. A larger-size image can be seenhere.(Hat tip: Martin.)



Mohammed preaching, while wearing European-style Renaissance attire; anillustration from the book Chroniques martiniennes (ca. 1475). In the collection of the New York Public Library.

Colored Renaissance print showing Mohammed at court, with wildly inaccuratefashions. From The Nuremberg Chronicle, originally published in 1493. Thisillustration is from the Morse Library, Beloit College edition.(Hat tip: Jheka.)

The following two peculiar line drawings show Mohammed dressed inRenaissance-era German garb and not behaving as one might expect:



"His Wife Scolding the Drunken Mohammed," German woodcut print, c. 1481. Source(for this image and the one below): The Illustrated Bartsch. Vol. 83, German Book

Illustration before 1500: Anonymous Artists, 1481-1482. Series title: Reysen und

Wanderschaften durch das Gelobte Land / Travels and Wanderings Through the Holy

Land .(Hat tip for this image and for the following image: Brett K.)

"Mohammed Cursing the Vines," German woodcut print, c. 1481. PresumablyMohammed is cursing the vines for producing the grapes that got him drunk.



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Islamic Depictions of Mohammed in Full

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Mohammed Image Archive3