Cleveland Museum of Art

The Flowering of Joseph’s Rod (folio 11 verso), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

Date

1602–04

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

Joseph kneels outside the temple, among, according to the text, a group of unmarried men. The artist has depicted them dressed like contemporary Portuguese merchants wearing button-down belted shirts. The men had been ordered by God to bring their staffs to the temple; the one whose staff blossoms would become the husband of Mary. Joseph quivers with astonishment as his staff blooms; his hat falls to the ground as though it suddenly came off his head in surprise. Father Jerome’s source for this episode was the apocryphal Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew. The suitors in this scene are dressed as contemporary Portuguese men, but have followed the Muslim practice of removing their shoes while in the temple.

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