2-732-636 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Jesus being awakened during a tempest on the Sea of Galilee, from a Mir’at al-quds of Father Jerome Xavier (Spanish, 1549-1617), 1602-1604. The boat carrying Jesus and his apostles encountered a tempest on the Sea of Galilee. As the apostles began to panic and fear that their boat would sink, Jesus continued to sleep peacefully. The painter illustrates the moment before Jesus was awakened by his apostles, who are frightened by the storm and perhaps also by the crocodile that sticks its head out of the waves. The power of the gale is indicated by the violently twisting sail and the Mughal-style tassel that swings at the top of the mast. This composition is the only one in the Cleveland manuscript to be based on an identifiable European print.