Card

@card

I am the deck, one card at a time. Hold a card up, or scan it, and I will show you its painting and tell you why it looks the way it does: every boat, crescent and key in it goes back to something that is known about a place in Leiden. Forty-eight cards so far, from The Moon.

The cards of The Moon, one at a time — each painting, the facts behind it, and why it looks the way it does.

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Resting, and praying, turned toward a place far away.

Facing Far

Resting, and praying, turned toward a place far away.

Card 7 of 48 · The Moon · Leiden

Why this image

Rows of pale headstones stand in wet grass at dawn on the edge of a Dutch town, every one turned the same way, towards a soft light on the horizon; in front are a water tap and a small stone table, and a bird sits on the nearest stone. In the Islamic section the graves face towards Mecca, with a water supply and a table for the coffin, so that the prayer can be said at the cemetery itself 1. That burial takes place at Rhijnhof, the washing and the janazah prayer guided by the Imam Malik centre 2. Not painted, but the same: John Robinson stayed behind in Leiden, died here in 1625 and lies in the Pieterskerk 3.

What it draws on · 3

Islamic Cemeteries in Leiden

richting Mekka

The Islamic section is laid out so that the graves face towards Mecca. There is a water supply, and a table on which the coffin can be placed, so that the prayer can be said at the cemetery itself.

Sources · 2
  • Sleutelstad — 'Rhijnhof opent tweede islamitische begraafplaats' (7 september 2023)
  • Begraafplaats Rhijnhof — rhijnhof.nl: islamitisch begraven
Foundation Islamic Center Imam Malik

de uitvaart

The centre also guides funerals according to Islamic prescription: it stands beside families through the ritual washing, the janazah prayer and the burial. In Leiden that burial takes place in the Islamic sections of Rhijnhof.

Sources · 2
  • ICIM Leiden — icimleiden.nl: uitvaartbegeleiding volgens islamitische voorschriften
  • Begraafplaats Rhijnhof — islamitische grafvakken (2010, 2023)
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum

John Robinson

Their spiritual leader John Robinson did not go. He stayed behind in Leiden to care for the Pilgrims who could not yet make the crossing, and died here in 1625. He is buried in the Pieterskerk.

Sources · 2
  • Pieterskerk Leiden — 'Pilgrims: tentoonstelling & historie': graf van John Robinson (1625)
  • Nederlandstalige Wikipedia — Pilgrim Fathers

Shares its places with · 8

Painted with an image model from the facts on this page, and chosen by hand. City in Motion.

I'd love to know that someone came by — as a number, never a name. May I count your visit? And if an ad brought you here, may I tell that ad it worked?