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Artworks
Fig. 1, Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Sword Dance, photogravure
Fig. 2, Jean-Léon Gérôme, The Sword Dance, 1875, oil on canvas, 58 x 80 cm, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University
JEAN-LÉON GEROME
A seated and turbaned musician playing a spike fiddle, seen from behind, a study for The Sword DancePencil on paper32.3 x 20.3 cm
12 ¾ x 8 in.Further images
Squared for transfer, this seated rebab player was used for one of the musicians in The Sword Dance, now known only from a photogravure (fig. 1). Another Sword Dance (fig....Squared for transfer, this seated rebab player was used for
one of the musicians in The Sword Dance, now known only from a photogravure
(fig. 1). Another Sword Dance (fig. 2), from 1875, features a similar rebab
player, although this time viewed from three-quarters.A rebab is a bowed string instrument that spread widely across North
Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia via Islamic trade routes from the 8th
century onward. The musician in the study plays a spike fiddle variant, which, as
the name suggests, features a projecting spike at its base, allowing the
instrument to rest on the ground for support. It typically consists of a small,
rounded or oval body and a long neck. Though appreciated for its voice-like
tone, the rebab has a limited range of just over an octave, and over
time it was supplanted in many regions by the violin and the kemenche.
The drawing is delicately constructed, with fine contour lines used to
define the folds of the garment and the angles of the limbs. Gérôme renders the
anatomy and pose with economy and clarity, focusing on the play of line and
proportion rather than shading or detail. The result is a poised and quietly
expressive study of a figure in concentration.
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