The Adoration of the Shepherds, from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier (1602–4): Art, History and Details

The Adoration of the Shepherds, 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:

Without reading the text, it would be difficult to identify the adorers as shepherds, because they are clothed as Portuguese merchants with ruffed collars and broad-brimmed hats. Mary stands with her divine newborn in a fenced enclosure, evocative of a sacred or royal space within a rather palatial setting, complete with pseudo-Ionic columns and heavy red draperies. The two books on the floor indicated to the Mughals that Christians, like Muslims, revere a definitive sacred scripture such as the Bible or the Koran.

Object facts

• Title: The Adoration of the Shepherds, 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, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Sheet: 26.2 x 15.6 cm (10 5/16 x 6 1/8 in.); Image: 20 x 11.2 cm (7 7/8 x 4 7/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 2005.145.30.a

A detail from the museum

The finishing details on this painting, such as two of the shepherds’ feet, the tile patterning, and probably arabesques, have not been completed.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

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.