Jonah and The Whale

Reverse painting on glass is a decorative technique in which artists apply paint, gold leaf, and silver leaf to the back of a glass panel. The image is then viewed from the front, through the glass. The technique began in Europe and, after the seventeenth century, spread to China, India, Africa, and Iran. In Iran, it became especially popular in the early twentieth century, when artists used it to create portraits of rulers, princes, princesses, and royal couples.

This small panel depicts a scene from the story of Jonah and the Whale (Yunus va Nahang), in which Jonah is emerging from the whale's mouth. This is a biblical narrative originating in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) that also appears in several surahs (chapters) in the Qur’an, most notably in Surah as-Saffat (37:139-148). Yunus, or Jonah, is referred to as Dhu’l-Nun (The One of the Fish). The story unfolds as follows: God commanded Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh and warn its people to repent. Jonah tried to flee by ship instead. A violent storm arose, and the sailors, blaming Jonah, threw him into the sea. He was swallowed by a "great fish" (often depicted in art as a whale). Jonah remained inside the creature for three days and three nights. After he prayed and repented, God commanded the fish to release him, and Jonah emerged alive onto dry land.