Abdul Hadi El-Gazzar (Egyptian, 1925 - 1965)

The Cosomorama ('World in a Box', or Sandouk El-Donia in Arabic) is a peep show through which pictures in perspective illusionistically depict different places or scenes by means of lenses and controlled illumination.
The Cosmorama occupies the centre of the composition, surrounded by a bare-chested acrobat, a performing monkey and a young girl from one of Egypt's poorer districts. Circus figures are recurring motifs in much of El-Gazzar's work, often present at moulids- festivals marking saints' birthdays- still the subject of raucous celebration in more traditional areas. A horse shoe suspended from the roof of the Cosmorama and the human-headed scorpion emblazoned on its curtain are typical of the superstitious and folkloric elements which populate his paintings.