Painted Roti Resting in the Bakers' Commons

A flatbread the size of a courtyard lies on a floor of small coloured tiles, its top washed with pink, orange, teal and violet and dotted with domed bubbles. Out of several bubbles grow tulips, star-shaped flowers and feathery leaves. Bakers in white caps and aprons walk across the surface, one kneeling by a bubble with a paddle, one stirring with a long wooden spoon near the curled edge. The teal underside folds up at the lower right, and beneath it cooks roll out dough on a table. A family walks hand in hand across the lower left of the bread. All around it stand brick ovens with glowing fires, grain hoppers, barrels, flour bins and workers carrying trays. The domes and the curled edge split the surface into clear areas for the eye to follow.