The Flagellation (folio 182 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

Description

Two Romans flog Jesus, who has been bound to a stake at the center of the circular composition made up of soldiers and the hilly horizon. His subtly articulated expression conveys both pain and compassion, as he endures cuts to his flesh and the bindings around his elbows that secure him so tightly to the post that his feet are elevated off the ground. This is the last illustration in the Cleveland manuscript of the Mirror of Holiness. The Crucifixion was never illustrated, possibly because the patron, Prince Salim, was Muslim. According to the Koran, Jesus did not die on the cross, but was absorbed into heaven by Allah.

Provenance

An Indian family in Great Britain, whose grandfather brought the manuscript to England in the 1930s or 1940s (before 1930s–2005); (Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (2005); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2005–)

The Flagellation (folio 182 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

[]

1602–4

Accession Number

2005.145.182.a

Medium

Gum tempera, ink, color, and gold on paper

Dimensions

Sheet: 26.2 x 15.3 cm (10 5/16 x 6 in.); Image: 22.3 x 13.3 cm (8 3/4 x 5 1/4 in.)

Classification

Manuscript

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund