id: 163669 accession number: 2005.145.36.b share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/2005.145.36.b updated: 2023-03-20 14:14:22.804000 The Adoration of the Magi, from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier, 1602–4. Northern India, Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad, Mughal period. Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper; sheet: 26.3 x 15.6 cm (10 3/8 x 6 1/8 in.); image: 22.7 x 12.2 cm (8 15/16 x 4 13/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2005.145.36.b title: The Adoration of the Magi, from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1602–4 creation date earliest: 1602 creation date latest: 1604 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: Northern India, Uttar Pradesh, Allahabad, Mughal period technique: Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art collection: Indian Art type: Manuscript find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Sheet: 26.3 x 15.6 cm (10 3/8 x 6 1/8 in.); Image: 22.7 x 12.2 cm (8 15/16 x 4 13/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Art and Stories from Mughal India opening date: 2016-07-31T04:00:00 Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016). title: Prince Salim's Life of Christ (Manuscript Rotation) - Gallery 115 opening date: 2019-12-02T05:00:00 Prince Salim's Life of Christ (Manuscript Rotation) - Gallery 115. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 2, 2019-July 1, 2020). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 5-April 27, 2015). --- PROVENANCE An Indian family in Great Britain, whose grandfather brought the manuscript to England in the 1930s or 1940s date: before 1930s-2005 footnotes: citations: (Sotheby's, London, 3 May 2001 sale, lot 74.) Unsold. date: May 3, 2001 footnotes: citations: (Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) date: 2005 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: 2005- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The books next to newborn Jesus indicate that his birth fulfills a prophecy. digital description: wall description: In this Nativity scene, familiar in Christian contexts, Mary and Joseph present the infant Jesus to the three Magi, who have placed their crowns on the ground in homage to the King of Kings. The three Magi are portrayed in Portuguese costumes to indicate to a Mughal audience that they are foreigners who believed in Christ. The artist cleverly and humorously indicates that the Magi have just arrived in Bethlehem by depicting their three camels in the bottom corner. One exhausted camel’s tongue hangs out the side of his mouth, while the other two animals lean eagerly toward a pair of water jugs. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Sotheby's (Firm). Arts of the Islamic World: Including 20th Century Middle Eastern Painting. London: Sotheby's, 2001. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: lot no. 74, pp. 76-77 url: 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. page number: url: Benay, Erin E. Italy by Way of India: Translating Art and Devotion in the Early Modern World. Turnhout: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2021. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: pp. 19–21, fig. 8 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2005.145.36.b/2005.145.36.b_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2005.145.36.b/2005.145.36.b_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/2005.145.36.b/2005.145.36.b_full.tif