A LARGE VIEW OF MECCA ON A STUCCO PANEL BY ISMAI'L AHMAD AL-DIMASHQI, OTTOMAN SYRIA AND DATED 1311 AH/1893 AD

Watercolor on stucco heightened with gold, depicting a large roundel enclosing a view of Mecca, central al-Masjid al-Haram with seven minarets, an arched outer wall with small white domes, the four Sunni Maqams, number of Mamluk and Ottoman kiosks. To the front of the mosque three known entrances 'door of al-Salaam, door of the Prophet and door of Ibn Abbas', with two small buildings indicating 'al-Safa and al-Marwa'.
In the background of the great mosque are the mountain of Arafat, al-Nour and Qais.
To the left side of the panel, painted with the mosque al-Taneem or Aisha, bounday of Haram therefore pilgrims can put on Ihram, and a view of maqbara or cemetery of al-Baqi. The margins decorated with v.96 from surah Al-Imraan in white on a green painted ground.
Signed by Ismai'l Ahmad al-Dimashqi in 1311 AH.
Panel 91 by 56 cm.