Jesus being portrayed by King Abgar’s painter (folio 143 recto), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier
Unknown Artist
1602–4
Medium
Gum tempera, ink, color, and gold on paper
Dimensions
painting only: 20 × 12.4 cm · page: 26.2 × 15.6 cm
Classification
Manuscript
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
2005.145.143.a
About this artwork
Jesus sits under a golden lamp with a cloth in his hand, while an artist sits before him, struggling to paint his portrait. The artist had been sent by his king, Abgar of Edessa, who was ill and believed the portrait would cure him. Jesus pitied the artist and pressed his face to the cloth to create a perfect impression. The miraculous cloth became known as the Mandylion and was venerated by Christians as a relic of Christ. The similarity between the names Abgar and Akbar suggests that Father J...