Artwork
The fourth man digs at the spot where he dropped the shell, expecting jewels, but discovering mere iron, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-seventh Night
The fourth man digs at the spot where he dropped the shell, expecting jewels, but discovering mere iron, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-seventh Night is an unspecified painting. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
The artwork depicts a narrative scene from the Forty-seventh Night of the Tuti-nama, illustrating the moment a man discovers iron instead of jewels.
Created in 1560 within the Mughal Empire, this work is a painting executed on paper, consistent with the standard medium for manuscript illumination of the period. The artwork depicts a narrative scene from the Forty-seventh Night of the Tuti-nama, illustrating the moment a man discovers iron instead of jewels. Stylistically, the piece reflects the early Mughal synthesis of Persian and Indian artistic traditions, characterized by detailed figural rendering and a focus on storytelling.
The composition captures the specific action of the fourth man digging at a designated spot, utilizing the visual language typical of the era's courtly manuscripts.
History & Provenance
This painting, illustrating the Forty-seventh Night of the Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot), was created in 1560 within the Mughal Empire. The work depicts a scene where the fourth man digs at a spot expecting jewels but discovers only iron. The artist remains anonymous, though the piece is cataloged under the specific accession number 1962.279.302.b. It is currently held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, which acquired the manuscript illumination as part of its holdings of Mughal art.
Overview
The work illustrates a scene from the Persian illustrated manuscript known as the Tuti‑nama, or Tales of a Parrot, specifically the forty‑seventh night. A man dressed in vivid orange robes is shown digging at the base of a tree, surrounded by oversized, irregular rocks and mushroom‑like forms. Other figures in patterned garments observe him, while a flat blue band crowns the composition and Arabic calligraphy frames the image along its top and bottom edges.
Subject & Meaning
The narrative captures the moment when the fourth character, believing he has uncovered a treasure chest, instead finds only a piece of iron. The exaggerated posture and bright garment emphasize his frustration and the moral lesson of misplaced expectations, a common theme in the didactic stories of the Tuti‑nama, which often warn against greed and folly.
Context
Illustrated manuscripts like the Tuti‑nama served both literary and visual functions, providing a visual accompaniment to moral stories for educated audiences. The use of vivid colors and exaggerated figures reflects the Persian court’s taste for opulent, didactic art, while the inclusion of Arabic calligraphic borders underscores the integration of text and image typical of the period.
Artist & collection
The young prince is crowned and the wicked handmaiden is executed, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The suitors take the devotee’s daughter out of her tomb after breaking it open, when the physician discovers she is still alive, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twentieth Night
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Eighth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The sentinel in the employ of the Shah of Tabaristan prepares to sacrifice his son to the ghost of the Shah’s soul, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Second Night
The sentinel in the employ of the Shah of Tabaristan prepares to sacrifice his son to the ghost of the Shah’s soul, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Second Night
Mukhtar throws his wife Maimuna into the pit, but she saves herself, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-fifth Night
Untitled
The snake enters into an argument with the frog, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-sixth Night
- The fourth man digs at the spot where he dropped the shell, expecting jewels, but discovering mere iron, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-seventh Night
The Emir slays the snake after giving it shelter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-fifth Night
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
The prince, a son of the ruler of Sistan, enters the service of a snake, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-seventh Night