Cleveland Museum of Art

The Adoration of the Shepherds, 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

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

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