On Islam and Portraiture: Lithography, Glass Painting, and Photography in Senegal

Abstract

Scholars have for decades challenged the popular belief that Islam is intrinsically and implacably hostile to anthropomorphic art. Rooted in this literature, this essay argues that Islam was responsible for popularizing portraiture in Senegal, which previously featured none. With the founding of local Sufi brotherhoods such as the Mouridiyya in the 1880s, the eminence of religious leaders led to an unprecedented demand for their portraits. Glass painting became the privileged medium for reproducing images that appeared in other media, such as lithographs or photographs. Inspired by the respect for Muslim saints inherent in Sufi practices, the widespread desire to display portraits in one's home and for one's personal devotional practices made this genre indispensable. Rather than concentrating on any one medium, this essay focuses on the theoretical and formal interaction among chromolithographs, photographs, and glass paintings, and the migration of images across the three between the 1910s and the 1950s.