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Jesus writes on the ground (folio 130 verso), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier, 1602–4

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Jesus writes on the ground (folio 130 verso), from a Mirror of Holiness (Mir’at al-quds) of Father Jerome Xavier1602–4

Gum tempera, ink, color, and gold on paper

Sheet: 26.3 x 15.5 cm (10 3/8 x 6 1/8 in.); Image: 21 x 11.4 cm (8 1/4 x 4 1/2 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art · 2005.145.130.b

As Jesus was debating with the scribes and Pharisees in Jerusalem, they brought before him an adulterous woman. More about this work

See it in the galleries

Format

Archival pigment inks on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, a 308 gsm cotton paper, with a white border.

Size

At this size the museum's file prints at 193 ppi: sharp at arm's length, a little softer than the smaller sizes up close.

Size
16 × 20 in · image 9¾ × 17½
Paper
Hahnemühle Photo Rag, 308 gsm
Price
$56

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About this work

As Jesus was debating with the scribes and Pharisees in Jerusalem, they brought before him an adulterous woman. Hoping to incite him to violence, they declared that if Jesus followed the law of Moses, he should order her to be stoned to death. Jesus responded, “Let whichever of you is without sin cast the first stone.” Then he began to write with his finger on the ground, and each of the men saw a description of his own sins. The two men in the bottom corner of the painting clutch stones with expressions of doubt, fear, and disgust. The adulteress in the red dress holds out her hands in supplication.

Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

How it was made

Opaque watercolour
Watercolour made opaque with white or chalk and laid in flat, even layers. Persian and Indian painters ground their colours from minerals, applied them with the finest brushes and burnished the finished page.
Tempera
Pigment bound with egg yolk. It dries in minutes and can’t be blended wet, so painters built up form with fine, hatched strokes. It was Europe’s main panel technique before oil.
Ink on paper
Ink made from soot and animal glue, ground with water on an inkstone. A single brush can give a hair-fine line or a broad wash, and nothing can be corrected.
Rights and the museum’s record

Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.

Object number
2005.145.130.b
Credit
Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Type
Manuscript
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
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