The vizier’s son receives the magic wooden parrot from the wife of the merchant, who is drunk, and has a replica made by a carpenter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a busy scene: a drunk merchant sprawled on the floor, his wife handing a wooden parrot to a young man, and a carpenter above them carving an exact copy. This painting comes from a book of stories told by a parrot to keep its owner from sneaking out at night. The tiny details—like the carpenter’s tools and the merchant’s flushed face—show how artists in Mughal India brought stories to life. It’s like a comic strip from the 1500s. To see more art like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).
