The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 13, 2025
Jesus being portrayed by King Abgar’s painter (folio 143 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier
1602–4
Location: Not on view
Did You Know?
Artist’s pigments are arranged in shells next to the brass cup for water.Description
Jesus sits under a golden lamp with a cloth in his hand, while an artist sits before him, struggling to paint his portrait. The artist had been sent by his king, Abgar of Edessa, who was ill and believed the portrait would cure him. Jesus pitied the artist and pressed his face to the cloth to create a perfect impression. The miraculous cloth became known as the Mandylion and was venerated by Christians as a relic of Christ.The similarity between the names Abgar and Akbar suggests that Father Jerome included this noncanonical story in his biography of Jesus to resonate with and inspire the Mughal emperor.
- before 1930s–2005An Indian family in Great Britain, whose grandfather brought the manuscript to England in the 1930s or 1940s2005(Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)2005–The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
- Carvalho, Pedro de Moura, and W. M. Thackston. Mirʼāt al-quds (Mirror of holiness): a life of Christ for Emperor Akbar: a commentary on Father Jerome Xavier's text and the miniatures of Cleveland Museum of Art, Acc. no. 2005.145. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
- Prince Salim's Life of Christ (Manuscript Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 2, 2019-July 1, 2020).Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
- {{cite web|title=Jesus being portrayed by King Abgar’s painter (folio 143 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier|url=false|author=|year=1602–4|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.145.143.a