1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The tale of the three men trapped in a cave by a rolling boulder, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-second Night is a 1560 unspecified by Bihzad, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
Three men crouch in a dark cave, their hands pressed together in fear. A huge boulder blocks the exit, and strange light glows from cracks in the rock. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales told to a queen each night. The artist worked for Emperor Akbar, who loved stories and art. Look closely—the cave walls are filled with tiny flowers and patterns, almost like a hidden garden. To see more art like this, look up mughal india, court of akbar (reigned 1556–1605).
Three men kneel in the bowels of a dark cave where they have been trapped while seeking hidden treasure. Fearful and desperate, they suddenly hear a disembodied voice that orders them to confess their transgressions. As each man speaks, a portion of the boulder disappears, and they are ultimately freed.
This painting is attributed to Bihzad, the son of Abd al-Samad the Persian master of the Mughal court.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād, also known as Kamal al-din Bihzad or Kamaleddin Behzād, was a Persian painter and head of the royal ateliers in Herat and Tabriz during the late Timurid and early Safavid eras.
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