Description
Two Romans flog Jesus, who has been bound to a stake at the center of the circular composition made up of soldiers and the hilly horizon. His subtly articulated expression conveys both pain and compassion, as he endures cuts to his flesh and the bindings around his elbows that secure him so tightly to the post that his feet are elevated off the ground. This is the last illustration in the Cleveland manuscript of the Mirror of Holiness. The Crucifixion was never illustrated, possibly because the patron, Prince Salim, was Muslim. According to the Koran, Jesus did not die on the cross, but was absorbed into heaven by Allah.
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 Flagellation (folio 182 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier
1602–4
Accession Number
2005.145.182.a
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, color, and gold on paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 26.2 x 15.3 cm (10 5/16 x 6 in.); Image: 22.3 x 13.3 cm (8 3/4 x 5 1/4 in.)
Classification
Manuscript
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund