The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of August 2, 2026

A vertically oriented manuscript page features thirteen horizontal rows of flowing black Persian calligraphy on aged tan paper. The elegant script sits beneath a faint rectangular header, enclosed by a thin border of blue, red, and gold lines. The paper displays visible wear, with dark stains and ragged, torn edges on the left. Small, delicate ink annotations appear in the margins, contrasting with the dense, formal text inside the frame.

Text page from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

1602

Mughal India, Allahabad, made for Prince Salim

(1569–1627)
Ink and gold on paper
Average: 26.1 x 15.6 cm (10 1/4 x 6 1/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2005.145.51.b
Location: Not on view
  • before 1930s–2005
    An Indian family in Great Britain, whose grandfather brought the manuscript to England in the 1930s or 1940s
    2005
    (Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    2005–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Text page from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier|url=false|author=|year=1602|access-date=02 August 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.145.51.b