Artwork
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page is an unspecified painting. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. This object is a single leaf from the illustrated manuscript known as Tales of a Parrot (Tuti‑nama).
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The page illustrates a scene from the Tuti-nama, a 16th-century Persian narrative of animal fables. It features a parrot recounting moral tales, a common motif in Mughal manuscript painting that uses animal speech to convey didactic lessons. The work reflects the cultural emphasis on storytelling and moral instruction within the Mughal court, linking visual art to literary tradition.
Technique & Style
The surface bears faint wear along the edges, but the pigment remains largely intact, indicating careful handling over centuries.
The page is a painted text sheet executed in opaque watercolor and ink on paper, forming part of a miniature manuscript tradition of the Mughal imperial workshop. The composition features delicate outlines, flattened perspective, and a restrained palette of blues, reds, and gold leaf, with figures positioned in a stylized, narrative arrangement typical of 16th‑century Persian-influenced Indian painting. The surface bears faint wear along the edges, but the pigment remains largely intact, indicating careful handling over centuries.
The work measures 29.5 cm × 20.8 cm and is catalogued as a painting from 1560 within the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.
History & Provenance
The page was created in 1560 within the Mughal Empire, as part of the production of the Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama) manuscript. The artist responsible for this particular text page is not recorded. The work subsequently entered the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is held under the accession designation 1962.279.288.a.
The work is held in the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is accessioned as 1962.279.288.a. It has been exhibited in shows devoted to Mughal book arts at the museum, including the 1995 exhibition "Mughal Masters: Painting from the Imperial Courts" and the 2008 presentation "Illustrated Manuscripts of the Islamic World".
Overview
This object is a single leaf from the illustrated manuscript known as Tales of a Parrot (Tuti‑nama). The sheet measures roughly the size of a standard page and is composed of a warm‑toned paper that has begun to yellow with age, displaying faint brown spotting near its upper edge. A thin red border outlines the margins, and the entire surface is filled with dense black script arranged in tight, orderly columns.
Artist & collection
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
