The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 13, 2025

Jesus on Mount Tabor, near Nazareth where he Chooses Twelve of his Followers and Calls them Apostles (folio 87 verso), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

1602–04

Mughal India, Allahabad, made for Prince Salim

(1569–1627)
Gum tempera, ink, color, and gold on paper
Sheet: 26.2 x 15.7 cm (10 5/16 x 6 3/16 in.); Image: 20 x 10.9 cm (7 7/8 x 4 5/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 2005.145.87.b
Location: Not on view

Description

When Jesus arrived at Mount Tabor, he left his followers at the foot of the hill and spent the entire night in prayer. This is the only night scene in the manuscript, and the artist has used glowing colors and gold paint to dot the night sky with stars. Seven of the 12 apostles mill around the foreground; some converse with animated gestures, possibly debating the contents of a text. At dawn Jesus will have summoned the 12, named them his apostles and given them the power to drive out unclean spirits and heal the sick and infirm.
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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=Jesus on Mount Tabor, near Nazareth where he Chooses Twelve of his Followers and Calls them Apostles (folio 87 verso), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier|url=false|author=|year=1602–04|access-date=13 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2005.145.87.b