{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O126331"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O126331/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM5788/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AM5788/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AM5788","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O126331/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O126331","accessionNumber":"IS.170-1950","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"The Inn at Bethlehem","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"This scene of \"The Inn at Bethlehem\" was done as an illustration to a text by a Jesuit priest, Jerome Xavier, who led the third Jesuit Mission from Portuguese Goa to the court of the Mughal emperor Akbar in 1595. He had learned Persian, the language used for all official purposes at the court, on his way to the court and by 1597 was reasonably fluent. From 1600, in response to requests from the emperor, Jerome Xavier began to write a series of texts with Christian themes, the earliest being the Dastan-i Masih, or \"Story of Christ\", also called the Mir'at ul-Quds, or \"Mirror of Holiness\". It is probable that he wrote it in Portuguese and the text was then translated in collaboration with a prominent court literary figure, Abdu-s Sattar, the text being completed in Agra in 1602. This illustration has been extracted from one of the copies of the original, and the text is now lost. It shows the preparations for the birth of Christ in a scene transposed to contemporary India. The artist has signed his name, Mas'ud Deccani, which shows him orginally to have been from the Deccan, in the south of the Indian subcontinent.","physicalDescription":"Painting, an opaque watercolour depicting the inn at Bethlehem, with the Virgin on a balcony, St. Joseph with other figures at the door, illustration to the<i> Dastan-i Masih</i> (Persian version of the life of Christ).","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"AAT14109"},{"text":"opaque watercolour","id":"x35013"},{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Painted in opaque watercolour on paper","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Christianity","id":"THES48978"},{"text":"Illustration","id":"THES48938"},{"text":"Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project","id":"THES263148"}],"styles":[{"text":"Mughal","id":"AAT18939"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AM5788"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"006","id":"THES403521"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"painting","id":"AAT33618"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Mughal Empire","id":"THES262021"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1600-05","earliest":"1595-01-01","latest":"1605-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"From the collection of A. Pendrill Charles","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"7.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"without borders","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"4.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"without borders","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Illustration to the Dastan-i Masih, or \"Story of Christ\", written in Persian by Jerome Xavier, the leader of the third Jesuit Mission to the Mughal court. The illustrated work regarded as the original is preserved in Lahore Museum and its colophon notes that it was completed at Agra in 1602. Other copies were made, of which several survive today in different libraries and museums.","historicalContext":"Formerly in the collection of Mr. A. Pendrill Charles. Sold at Christie's on 10/2/1950, lot 7, for £28; bought from Maggs Bros. Ltd. the same year for £33.","briefDescription":"Painting, Inn at Bethlehem, by Mas'ud Deccani, opaque watercolour on paper, Mughal, ca. 1600-05","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Sir Edward Maclagan, The Jesuits and the Great Mughal, London, 1932, pl. facing page 203."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"The inn at Bethlehem, with the Virgin on a balcony cleaning cobwebs from the interior of the structure, St. Joseph with other figures at the door, illustration to the<i> Dastan-i Masih</i> (Persian version of the life of Christ).","contentPlaces":[{"text":"Bethlehem","id":"x30482"}],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Christ","id":"N1515"},{"text":"Virgin","id":"N480"},{"text":"Saint Joseph","id":"N3590"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[{"text":"Nativity, The","id":"V23"}],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"balcony","id":"AAT2588"},{"text":"saints","id":"AAT150555"},{"text":"inn","id":"AAT7170"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"THE INN AT BETHLEHEM\r\nIllustration to the Dastan-i Masih\r\nOpaque watercolour and gold on paper\r\nMughal, signed by Mas’ud Deccani\r\nc. 1605\r\nIS.170-1950\n\r\nAkbar’s interest in religion extended to Christianity. This text describing the life of Christ was written by Father Jerome Xavier. In 1595, the Jesuit priest had led a third mission from Portuguese Goa to Akbar’s court. He wrote several texts about Christianity for Akbar, which were all translated into Persian. The account of Christ’s life was finished first, in 1602.","date":{"text":"27/9/2013","earliest":"2013-09-27","latest":"2013-09-27"}}],"partNumbers":["IS.170-1950"],"accessionNumberNum":"170","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1950,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-09","recordCreationDate":"2006-07-24","availableToBook":true}}