The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 24, 2026

A vertically oriented page of aged brownish paper features thirteen lines of black Persian script within a gold-bordered central rectangle. Below a titled header, elegant calligraphy is flanked by marginalia on the right and bottom left. Significant physical wear, including circular holes and uneven edges, marks the left margin. The composition highlights the delicate script against the warm, textured, and weathered surface of the historical manuscript.

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 2005.145.52.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=24 October 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.145.52.b