Cleveland Museum of Art

A raven brings food to Elijah (folio 72 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier,

Date: 1602–4
Medium: Gum tempera, ink, color, 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

The Old Testament prophet Elijah sits like an Indian holy man on a raised rocky platform under a tree. A raven has come to bring him bread and meat until the river runs dry, as commanded by God. Father Jerome recounted the story of Elijah to explain a reference made by Jesus in the context of his being rejected by the people of Nazareth, where he grew up. The unusual combination of Elijah’s salmon pink and light blue garments draws the viewer’s attention to him as the focus of the composition and echoes the paler hues of the sky.

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