Cleveland Museum of Art
John the Baptist recognizes Christ by the appearance of a dove (folio 50 verso), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier
- Date
- 1602–4
- Medium
- Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
- Culture
- Mughal India, Allahabad, made for Prince Salim (1569–1627)
- Department
- Indian and Southeast Asian Art
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Object ID
- 163671
From the Cleveland Museum of Art record
Wearing the black robes and cap of a Jesuit priest, John the Baptist sits in a well-appointed Mughal-style courtyard. According to Father Jerome’s text, John recognizes Jesus by the dove who sits on his head. Possibly Father Jerome intended to relate the Gospel account that describes the dove of the Holy Spirit as hovering in the air above his head. The artist’s own reactions to this passage may be reflected in the expressions and gestures of the onlookers, who seem incredulous and bemused at this sign. Jesus holds a rosary with a cross even in scenes prior to his crucifixion.
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Provenance & credit
As published by the source institution. Coverage varies — not every institution's open-data feed includes ownership history.
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Provenance
- before 1930s–2005: An Indian family in Great Britain, whose grandfather brought the manuscript to England in the 1930s or 1940s | 2005: (Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) | 2005–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
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