The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 14, 2025
A raven brings food to Elijah (folio 72 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier,
1602–4
Location: Not on view
Description
The Old Testament prophet Elijah sits like an Indian holy man on a raised rocky platform under a tree. A raven has come to bring him bread and meat until the river runs dry, as commanded by God. Father Jerome recounted the story of Elijah to explain a reference made by Jesus in the context of his being rejected by the people of Nazareth, where he grew up. The unusual combination of Elijah’s salmon pink and light blue garments draws the viewer’s attention to him as the focus of the composition and echoes the paler hues of the sky.- 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
- O’Malley, John W., Gauvin A. Bailey, and Giovanni Sale. The Jesuits and the Arts, 1540-1773. 1st English ed. Philadelphia: Saint Joseph’s University Press, 2005. Reproduced: p. 353, fig. 10.39Carvalho, 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).
- {{cite web|title=A raven brings food to Elijah (folio 72 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier,|url=false|author=|year=1602–4|access-date=14 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.145.72.a