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The Brahman’s wife who killed a peacock and ate its gallbladder on the physician’s advice, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Nineteenth Night

Unknown

1560

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Renaissance Allegory

Dominant colour

The Brahman’s wife who killed a peacock and ate its gallbladder on the physician’s advice, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Nineteenth Night is a 1560 unspecified by Unknown, a Mughal Painting work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Unknown
When & what style?: 1560 · Mughal Painting
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

A woman in a pink sari stands over a dead peacock, its feathers scattered. A man in orange and green sits nearby, watching. The room is small, with patterned walls and a tiled floor. This painting tells a story from a book of parrot tales, written for Emperor Akbar’s court. The woman killed the peacock on a doctor’s advice, hoping its gallbladder would cure her infertility. She lied to cover her crime, showing how far people go for hope. To see more stories like this, look up *Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)*.

The story of this work

Overview

The Brahman’s wife stands over the body of the Raja’s dead peacock, which she killed in hopes of finding a cure for her infertility. The woman’s crime was nearly discovered, but she ultimately saved herself with a cunning lie. The physician, wearing orange and green, sits in the chamber on the left.