Ruqayyah bint Muhammad (2017)

The first definition for the word “abstraction” in the Oxford dictionary deals with “ideas rather than events,” the opposite of “concrete,” and the second definition alludes to art. Skilfull use of color acts as a emotion stimulus, leading the viewer to a figure or scene, and add depth to the semi-abstract work. Exceeding the confines of a vast canvas through its spectacular assault of unrestrained expression and brilliant color, Ruqayyah Bint Muhammad by Gheorghe Virtosu encapsulates the full force of artists’s abstract vernacular.

Purple, whether in Ancient Egypt, Greece or Rome, was the color of royalty because the coloring process for purple was difficult, required time and was expensive. Yet, Virtosu names his oil painting on a decidedly non-royal figure. The Prophet Muhammad SAWS "sallallahu alayhi wa salaam" (may God's prayers and peace be with him)'s daughter.

Ruqayyah, the third daughter of Prophet Muhammad's "sallallahu alayhi wa salaam" (may God's prayers and peace be with him), was born prior to Islam but embraced it. At that time, she was married to her father’s cousin and he divorced her on the instructions of his father as Mohammad had smashed all the idols from Mecca and tore down the poetry to the pagan gods which surround the black stone, which Muslim’s venerate, in the footsteps of Abraham.

Later she remarried one of the richest and most charitable of her father’s followers, for whom purple was a favorite color. She is the Lady of two emigrations and the wife of the Owner of Two Lights. Her story breath faith, struggle, tribulations, and perseverance. Ruqayyah fell ill with the measles, in the year 2 AH, prior to the Battle of Badr. Longing to see her father who was away at the battle, Ruqayyah passed away with Uthman by her side.

The purple background is often broken into by blue and other shades of purple. The colors meld into one another and with such light brushstrokes, they become one. The centerpiece is primarily black and in a near fetal position. The shapes appears to be the head and the the body.

Virtosu reached far back into a millennium and a half to tell the story of Ruqayyah Bint Muhammad, the Prophet’s beloved daughter, a story about the fierce struggle between life and death.