The Entry into Jerusalem (folio 156 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

Description

Jesus rides astride a female donkey, as specified in the text, and he greets a group of four men, two of whom seem to welcome him with hands extended. He follows the road to the gates of Jerusalem, which appear in the upper left corner. Father Jerome devoted only three short lines to this episode, so perhaps its selection for illustration is connected to an old and popular Islamic saying: “If Jesus’s donkey is taken to Mecca, when it comes back it will still be a donkey.”

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–)

The Entry into Jerusalem (folio 156 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier

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1602–4

Accession Number

2005.145.156.a

Medium

Gum tempera, ink, color, and gold on paper

Dimensions

Sheet: 26.2 x 15.6 cm (10 5/16 x 6 1/8 in.); Image: 19.6 x 9.8 cm (7 11/16 x 3 7/8 in.)

Classification

Manuscript

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund