2-745-307 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The place of Jesus’s birth, from a Mir’at al-quds of Father Jerome Xavier (Spanish, 1549-1617), 1602-1604. Instead of a stable, the artist has interpreted the place of Jesus’s birth as an abandoned ruin. Mary is cleaning it with a peacock-feather whisk, while Joseph negotiates with a man dressed in full Mughal attire at the doorway. The camel is laden with belongings and an Indian-style bed.