Metal Ornament Taken from the Mosque of Es Sakra 1886

James Tissot created this study of metal ornaments from the Mosque of Es Sakra as part of his ambitious project to illustrate the life of Christ, a project which was both deeply personal and situated within the orientalist fascination of 19th-century France. Tissot's decision to travel to the Middle East to authenticate his illustrations reflects a Western desire to possess and represent other cultures. Ornamentation like this, originally part of a sacred space, becomes a mere object of study, divorced from its original spiritual and cultural context. Consider the power dynamics at play. A European artist extracting and reinterpreting Islamic art for a Western audience. The drawing invites us to reflect on themes of cultural appropriation, the gaze, and the complex history of artistic exchange and representation between the West and the Middle East. It’s a study of faith, seen through the eyes of another.