This nim qalam (half-pen) lightly tinted drawing is likely an Indianized pastiche based on unidentified European engravings. The central figure probably represents the Virgin Mary praying at the site of the crucifixion of Jesus, known as Calvary or Golgotha. This is indicated by the cross with the ladder used to lower the body of Christ and the symbolic skulls and crossbones on the rectangular tomb. The cross has been misinterpreted as a plank on a post. The small figures adjacent to the cross are wearing Indo-Islamic garb, including the bust of the apex of the cross, which resembles a cap-wearing Muslim mullah rather than a crowned God the Father. Three winged angels, presumably cherubim, hover in the clouds. In the distance on the left is a European-style town, probably Jerusalem.
The identification of Virgin Mary is suggested by her halo and her blue veil, symbolic of her purity. Alternatively, as the Virgin Mary is commonly portrayed beside the cross with her arms crossed over her chest, the genuflecting figure may be intended as the penitent Mary Magdalene. She is similarly depicted in Baroque iconography as praying to angels beside the empty tomb. (For example, see an etching of circa 1640-1655 by the Venetian artist Giulio Carpioni (1613-1678) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2012.136.333.) Omitted, however, is her primary attribute, the jar of ointment she used to anoint Christ’s feet. Curiously, the hindquarters of an ass protrude from under her robe.
