Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier 1602-04 Part of a set. See all set records Mughal India, Allahabad, made for Prince Salim (1569–1627) 24 full size illustrations with 160 folios of text; gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper DESCRIPTION Father Jerome Xavier (1549–1617) of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuit order of Catholic priests, spent 19 years as a guest at the Mughal court from 1595 until 1614. While in residence he learned the Persian language so that he could engage in theological discussions in the courts of Akbar and his successor, Jahangir. When Akbar requested a biography of Jesus, Father Jerome wrote the Mir’at al-quds in Persian prose. This text relates his version of the life and miracles of Jesus based on a number of canonical and apocryphal sources. He emphasized aspects of the life of Jesus that he thought would appeal to Akbar in the hopes of winning the emperor’s conversion to Christianity. John L. Severance Fund 2005.145 PROVENANCE before 1930s-2005 An Indian family in Great Britain, whose grandfather brought the manuscript to England in the 1930s or 1940s 2005 (Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch Ltd., London, UK, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 2005- The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH CITATIONS Carvalho, Pedro de Moura, and W. M. Thackston. Mirʼāt al-quds (Mirror of holiness): a life of Christ for Emperor Akbar: a commentary on Father Jerome Xavier's text and the miniatures of Cleveland Museum of Art, Acc. no. 2005.145. Leiden: Brill, 2012. EXHIBITION HISTORY Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (January 5-April 27, 2015). pages 2-8 only. Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016). Prince Salim's Life of Christ – Gallery 115 Rotation. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (December 2, 2019-July 1, 2020).