Description
To end his 40-day fast, five angels brought Jesus refreshments from heaven: breads, melons each with a knife for convenient cutting, fresh leeks, and what appear to be fragrant rice dishes and curries, along with cups of wine. Four of the angels are dressed in robes, and one is clothed only in feathers. After his baptism, Jesus spent 40 days and nights in the desert where he fasted, practiced spiritual exercises, and successfully resisted the temptations of Satan. Many of the rocks in this painting have faces, called grotesques.
This page is the only surviving folio from this manuscript that has an artist’s signature, written in the tiny pot by Jesus’s foot.
This page is the only surviving folio from this manuscript that has an artist’s signature, written in the tiny pot by Jesus’s foot.
Provenance
An Indian family in Great Britain, whose grandfather brought the manuscript to England in the 1930s or 1940s (before 1930s–2005); (Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd., London, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) (2005); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2005–)
Angels bring food to Jesus in the wilderness (folio 55 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier
1602–4
Accession Number
2005.145.55.a
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, color, and gold on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 26.2 x 15.7 cm (10 5/16 x 6 3/16 in.); Image: 20.5 x 11.3 cm (8 1/16 x 4 7/16 in.)
Classification
Manuscript
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund
