Lot Essay
'In the year 1859, Carl Haag made a long stay in Jerusalem, to study and portray the most important of those spots which are connected with the history of our religion. By a special firman of the Sultan, granted him at the request of Her Majesty the Queen, the Pasha of Jerusalem had to admit him to the Haram es Shereef, to paint this jealously-guarded mysterious Holy Rock.
'The interior of the magnificent mosque of Kubbet-es-Sukhrah "the dome of the rock," sometimes called the mosque of Omar, having been built by the Moslem Khalif Omar, and which encircles the holy rock, had till then never been painted at all, as no artist was ever permitted to plant his easel on this venerated spot, which in sacredness Mahomedans hold but second to the Kaaba in Mecca.
'The studies for the present picture were begun and completed there and then, and though Mr. Haag was constantly attended by guards, he ran imminent risk of losing his life.
'According to immemorial tradition, this is the spot, where Abraham erected his altar to sacrifice Isaac, the spot on mount Moriah where Ornan, the Jebusite chief, had his threshing floor, which David brought of him for a place of sacrifice, and where Solomon afterwards erected the Temple.
'The promise made by Jehovah to Solomon, "Mine ears shall be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place," gives the rock its present sanctity for the Mahomedans. They guard it from the approach of any but Moslem, lest supplication for evil on themselves, or on their religion should be made in such a place.
'To the right is seen the small, tall baldachin which stands over the corner of the rock. For Mahomedans this is a point of great interest. At this point alone are they allowed to touch the holy stone by thrusting their hands through a small circular opening, seen on one side of this structure.
'Mr. Charles Alfred Swinburne, in the preface to his "Sacret and Shakespearian affinities," thus mentions the rock. "The sight of such an object in such a building impresses the beholder who knows its history with absolute awe, succeeded by admiration of the reverence and genius of a race who, although neither Jews nor Christians, have so profound a faith in God, in His manifestations of Himself on this place, and in the recognition of them by a nation so favoured by Him, that they have never ventured to desecrate the place by a touch, but have simply surrounded and protected it by a shrine as costly and beautiful as it is possible for human faith to construct, leaving the naked rock in its natural simplicity, as part of 'the ground which He hath made continually,' a lasting monument of His divine promise, merciful forgiveness, and love."'
'The interior of the magnificent mosque of Kubbet-es-Sukhrah "the dome of the rock," sometimes called the mosque of Omar, having been built by the Moslem Khalif Omar, and which encircles the holy rock, had till then never been painted at all, as no artist was ever permitted to plant his easel on this venerated spot, which in sacredness Mahomedans hold but second to the Kaaba in Mecca.
'The studies for the present picture were begun and completed there and then, and though Mr. Haag was constantly attended by guards, he ran imminent risk of losing his life.
'According to immemorial tradition, this is the spot, where Abraham erected his altar to sacrifice Isaac, the spot on mount Moriah where Ornan, the Jebusite chief, had his threshing floor, which David brought of him for a place of sacrifice, and where Solomon afterwards erected the Temple.
'The promise made by Jehovah to Solomon, "Mine ears shall be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place," gives the rock its present sanctity for the Mahomedans. They guard it from the approach of any but Moslem, lest supplication for evil on themselves, or on their religion should be made in such a place.
'To the right is seen the small, tall baldachin which stands over the corner of the rock. For Mahomedans this is a point of great interest. At this point alone are they allowed to touch the holy stone by thrusting their hands through a small circular opening, seen on one side of this structure.
'Mr. Charles Alfred Swinburne, in the preface to his "Sacret and Shakespearian affinities," thus mentions the rock. "The sight of such an object in such a building impresses the beholder who knows its history with absolute awe, succeeded by admiration of the reverence and genius of a race who, although neither Jews nor Christians, have so profound a faith in God, in His manifestations of Himself on this place, and in the recognition of them by a nation so favoured by Him, that they have never ventured to desecrate the place by a touch, but have simply surrounded and protected it by a shrine as costly and beautiful as it is possible for human faith to construct, leaving the naked rock in its natural simplicity, as part of 'the ground which He hath made continually,' a lasting monument of His divine promise, merciful forgiveness, and love."'