Description
The opening page of this Christian manuscript is ornamented in the manner of books made for elite Islamic patrons. Using costly pigments made from the semiprecious blue stone called lapis lazuli and gold paint, the artists created contrasting ground colors to set off delicate floral arabesques that evoke the waters and light of paradise.
The text was written in Persian, the official court language of the Mughal rulers in India, and read from right to left. Father Jerome had studied Persian in India for seven to eight years before Akbar asked him to produce a history of the life of Jesus in Persian.
The text was written in Persian, the official court language of the Mughal rulers in India, and read from right to left. Father Jerome had studied Persian in India for seven to eight years before Akbar asked him to produce a history of the life of Jesus in Persian.
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–)
Illuminated opening page (folio 1 verso) and 131 folios with Persian text, from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier
1602–4; margins added with rebinding, about 1900
Accession Number
2005.145.1.b
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Dimensions
Page: 26.1 x 15.4 cm (10 1/4 x 6 1/16 in.)
Classification
Manuscript
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund
