Cleveland Museum of Art

Jesus being portrayed by King Abgar’s painter (folio 143 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

Jesus sits under a golden lamp with a cloth in his hand, while an artist sits before him, struggling to paint his portrait. The artist had been sent by his king, Abgar of Edessa, who was ill and believed the portrait would cure him. Jesus pitied the artist and pressed his face to the cloth to create a perfect impression. The miraculous cloth became known as the Mandylion and was venerated by Christians as a relic of Christ. The similarity between the names Abgar and Akbar suggests that Father Jerome included this noncanonical story in his biography of Jesus to resonate with and inspire the Mughal emperor. Artist’s pigments are arranged in shells next to the brass cup for water.

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