Artwork Page for Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

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Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

1602–4

Mughal India, Allahabad, made for Prince Salim

(1569–1627)
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Medium
24 full size illustrations with 160 folios of text; gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 2005.145
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Father Jerome Xavier (1549–1617) of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuit order of Catholic priests, spent 19 years as a guest at the Mughal court from 1595 until 1614. While in residence he learned the Persian language so that he could engage in theological discussions in the courts of Akbar and his successor, Jahangir. When Akbar requested a biography of Jesus, Father Jerome wrote the Mir’at al-quds in Persian prose. This text relates his version of the life and miracles of Jesus based on a number of canonical and apocryphal sources. He emphasized aspects of the life of Jesus that he thought would appeal to Akbar in the hopes of winning the emperor’s conversion to Christianity.
A book spread features Persian calligraphy on the right and a scene depicting the Virgin Mary holding baby Christ and standing before a gray-brown building on the left. She stands below a red and orange curtain, pulled to the side, and looks down to our left where a man kneels gazing up. In the lower left corner, another person dangles something a dog leaps to get. Three people gather in the lower right, two holding books. All have light skin tones.

Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

1602–4

Mughal India, Allahabad, made for Prince Salim (1569–1627)

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