1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The hunter throws away the baby parrots, who pretend to be dead, and captures the mother, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifth Night is a 1560 unspecified by Basawan, a Patna School of Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A hunter in a tree shakes baby parrots from their nest while the mother parrot watches. The babies lie still on the ground, pretending to be dead. The hunter grabs the mother in a net. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales told to a prince to keep him from sneaking out at night. The story is dark—animals trick each other, and the hunter doesn’t know he’s being tricked too. The bright greens and reds make the scene feel alive, even though it’s about deception. If you like this, look up more from mughal india, court of akbar (reigned 1556–1605).
Despite the chess-playing monkey’s grim end, the baby parrots continued to cavort with the fox cubs. One day the mother fox discovered that her cubs had been eaten by a panther. Blaming the parrots, she lured a hunter to their tree. The hunter climbed the tree and ensnared the mother parrot and her babies. The mother instructed her young to play dead, then pleaded with the hunter to take her alone, saying that since she knew the art of healing she would fetch a high price. Lush vegetation and a stream of water painted with a soft brush indicate a fresh new stylistic vision that represents a…
The pink leaves are new shoots that have not yet turned green.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Basāwan, or Basāvan, was an Indian miniature painter in the Mughal style. He was known by his contemporaries as a skilled colorist and keen observer of human nature, and for his use of portraiture in the illustrations…
See the richer artist pageYour cart is empty
Explore artworks →
