The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 23, 2026

A vertical tan manuscript page displays thirteen rows of fluid black Persian Nasta'liq calligraphy. This central text block is framed by delicate gold and blue borders, with a thin rectangular header at the top. Tiny script annotations are tucked between main lines and in the right margin. The aged, stained paper features a frayed right edge. Faint text from the reverse side ghosts through the tan surface.

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 2005.145.73.a
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=23 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.145.73.a