The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

The Adoration of the Magi, from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

The Adoration of the Magi, from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

1602–4
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Sheet: 26.3 x 15.6 cm (10 3/8 x 6 1/8 in.); Image: 22.7 x 12.2 cm (8 15/16 x 4 13/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2005.145.36.b
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The books next to newborn Jesus indicate that his birth fulfills a prophecy.

Description

In this Nativity scene, familiar in Christian contexts, Mary and Joseph present the infant Jesus to the three Magi, who have placed their crowns on the ground in homage to the King of Kings. The three Magi are portrayed in Portuguese costumes to indicate to a Mughal audience that they are foreigners who believed in Christ. The artist cleverly and humorously indicates that the Magi have just arrived in Bethlehem by depicting their three camels in the bottom corner. One exhausted camel’s tongue hangs out the side of his mouth, while the other two animals lean eagerly toward a pair of water jugs.
  • before 1930s-2005
    An Indian family in Great Britain, whose grandfather brought the manuscript to England in the 1930s or 1940s
    May 3, 2001
    (Sotheby's, London, 3 May 2001 sale, lot 74.) Unsold.
    2005
    (Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2005-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Sotheby's (Firm). Arts of the Islamic World: Including 20th Century Middle Eastern Painting. London: Sotheby's, 2001. Mentioned and Reproduced: lot no. 74, pp. 76-77
    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.
    Benay, Erin E. Italy by Way of India: Translating Art and Devotion in the Early Modern World. Turnhout: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2021. Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 19–21, fig. 8
  • 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).
    Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 5-April 27, 2015).
  • {{cite web|title=The Adoration of the Magi, from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier|url=false|author=|year=1602–4|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.145.36.b