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
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
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund