1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
A woman asks her lover to leave her house, brandishing his sword and feigning rage in order to deceive her husband who has just arrived, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night is a 1560 unspecified by Gujarati, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A woman in a red dress waves a sword at a man while her husband peeks in from the doorway. The room is small, packed with patterned rugs and a low table. A young boy hides underneath, watching everything. This painting is from a book of stories told by a parrot to keep its owner from sneaking out at night. The woman’s quick thinking turns a bad situation into a wild lie—one that might not hold up for long. The hidden apprentice adds another layer of drama no one expected. To see more scenes like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).
A shrewd woman is carrying on an affair with a painter. When her husband suddenly returns home, she quickly concocts a plan to prevent them both from being caught. Hidden beneath the table is the painter’s young apprentice who, unbeknownst to the painter, was also seduced by the woman.
Gujarati is not a proper name but designates that the painter is from Gujarat.
Read the full account in the museum source.
