English: As a witness to the pregnancy of Gabrielle d’Estrées, a painting was commissioned and completed in the year 1594.  From an unknown artist, this painting shows Gabrielle d’Estrées in a bathtub with her sister pinching her nipple, in a sign of the upcoming motherhood while Gabrielle holds the ring of Henry of France, father of her soon to be a child.  This painting bears the same composition of a painting from 1571, “ Diane de Poitiers” by Francois Clouet.
Alireza Shojaian used the same composition as “Gabrielle d’Estrées et une des ses sœurs” to portray, in his very own way, a particular moment in our recent history when, during a concert by Mashrou’ Leila, in Cairo on 22 September 2017, many concert-goers were arrested by the police for waving the rainbow flag in support for the LGBTQ community during the performance. This governmental intolerance to this particular community is recursive in most Middle Eastern countries.

 

He has captured this not-to-be documented event by dedicating this collaborative artwork to Hamed Sinno, the lead singer of Mashrou’ Leila, and portraying him pinching the nipple of Anubis, the ancient Egyptian god, who holds Ankh, the symbol of immortality. The tree symbolizes the growth of this tolerance movement. In the background, the water fountain symbolizes water; the element that can take any form or shape yet can penetrate the rock.