The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of February 12, 2025

Jonah Under the Gourd Vine
280–90 CE
Overall: 32.3 x 46.3 x 18 cm (12 11/16 x 18 1/4 x 7 1/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1965.239
Location: 104 Late Antiquity
Did You Know?
The sculpture shows the dramatic moment when the Jonah, having languished in the desert, is saved by the shade of a gourd vine. The sculptor paid great attention to detail such as Jonah's bushy beard echoing the large leaves overhead.Description
After disobeying the Lord’s command to proclaim judgment on the city of Nineveh, the Old Testament prophet Jonah was cast into the sea, swallowed by a sea monster, and ultimately cast ashore. When asked a second time, Jonah obeyed the Lord but became displeased when the city was spared. After pleading for Nineveh’s destruction, Jonah left the city and rested in the shadow of a large gourd vine. The Lord, however, made the vine wither, exposing Jonah to the burning sun.- according to William Wixom, one unconfirmed report tells us that the entire group (1965.237-1965.247) was found in a single, huge pithos or jar. (J. J. Klejman, New York).
- The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 36 archive.org“Early Christian Sculptures at Cleveland.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 54, no. 3 (March 1967): 67–88. Reproduced: p. 80, fig. 29; Mentioned: p. 75-77 www.jstor.orgThe Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 36 archive.orgMetropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), Margaret English Frazer, and Kurt Weitzmann. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century. New York: The Museum, 1977. Mentioned: p. 407-411Weitzmann, Kurt, and Margaret English Frazer. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art Third to Seventh Century ; Based on the Catalogue to the Exhibition "Age of Spirituality", Metropolitan Museum New York, 1977. [New York, NY]: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977. pp. 406-411 books.google.comKitzinger, Ernst. 1978. "The Cleveland Marbles". I Monumenti Cristiani Preconstantiniani. Mentioned: p. 653-675The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 34 archive.orgMcColl, Donald Alexander. Early Christian Sculptures at Cleveland in Their Eastern Mediterranean Context. 1991.The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 14 archive.orgLehman, Karen M. "Sacred and Profane Hellenizing Marbles of the Late Third Century Roman Empire: Secular Portraits and Religious Narrative Sculptures in the Cleveland Museum of Art Reviewed in the Cultural Context." M.A. thesis, Kent State University, 2004. Mentioned: p. v; Reproduced: p. 108, fig. 25Cleveland Museum of Art, and Holger A. Klein. Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2007. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 34-37, no. 1Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 260-261Meyer, Mati. Omanut yeme ha-benayim be-Eropah uba-biznaṭyon. Raʻananah: ha-Universiṭah ha-petuḥah, 2017. Reproduced: p. 69, #26Hornik, Heidi J. "Freestanding Sculpture." In The Routledge Handbook of Early Christian Art.Jensen, Robin Margaret Jensen and Mark D. Ellison, editors. Abingdon Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. Reproduced: p. 75, fig. 5.4Rumscheid, Frank, Sabine Schrenk and Kornelia Kressirer. Göttliche Ungerechtigkeit?: Strafen und Glaubensprüfungen als Themen antiker und frühchristlicher Kunst. Petersberg: Dr. M. Imhof, 2018. Reproduced: p. 302-303; IV.2.3 Abb. 9-11; Kat 5Bol, Peter, Carola Reinsberg, Renate Bol, D. Kreikenbom, Hans-Ulrich Cain, Heike Richter, and Britta Özen-Kleine. Plastik der römischen Kaiserzeit vom Regierungsantritt des Antoninus Pius bis zum Ende der Antike. Worms : Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft mbh, 2019. Mentioned: p. 189, 191, 193, 195; Reproduced: Abb. 183 (bd. 2)
- Byzantium, 330-1453. Royal Academy of Arts, London, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (organizer) (October 25, 2008-March 22, 2009).Royal Academy of Art, London (10/25/2008 - 3/22/2009): "Byzantium, 330-1453", ex. cat. no. 2, p. 53.Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. National Museum of Bavaria, Munich, Germany (May 10-September 16, 2007); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008).Bavarian Nationalmuseum, Munich (5/10/2007 - 9/16/2007) and the J. Paul Getty Musuem, Los Angeles (10/30/2007 - 1/20/2008): "Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art"When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas Story. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 1, 1981-January 17, 1982).Golden Anniversary of Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 10-October 16, 1966).
- {{cite web|title=Jonah Under the Gourd Vine|url=false|author=|year=280–90 CE|access-date=12 February 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1965.239