Jesus writes on the ground (folio 130 verso), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier (1602–4): Art, History and Details

Jesus writes on the ground (folio 130 verso), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier (1602–4) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

As Jesus was debating with the scribes and Pharisees in Jerusalem, they brought before him an adulterous woman. Hoping to incite him to violence, they declared that if Jesus followed the law of Moses, he should order her to be stoned to death. Jesus responded, “Let whichever of you is without sin cast the first stone.” Then he began to write with his finger on the ground, and each of the men saw a description of his own sins. The two men in the bottom corner of the painting clutch stones with expressions of doubt, fear, and disgust. The adulteress in the red dress holds out her hands in supplication.

Object facts

• Title: Jesus writes on the ground (folio 130 verso), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier
• Date: 1602–4
• Culture: Mughal India, Allahabad, made for Prince Salim (1569–1627)
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: Gum tempera, ink, color, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Sheet: 26.3 x 15.5 cm (10 3/8 x 6 1/8 in.); Image: 21 x 11.4 cm (8 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2005.145.130.b

A detail from the museum

The adulteress wears a red dress, gold rings, and a necklace under her stole.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• 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.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.