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The eldest brother explains the reason for his youthful appearance, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-ninth Night, by Unknown, unspecified, 1560

The eldest brother explains the reason for his youthful appearance, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-ninth Night

Unknown

1560

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Renaissance

Dominant colour

The eldest brother explains the reason for his youthful appearance, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-ninth 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 king’s advisor sits on the floor, talking to the oldest of three brothers. The old man looks younger than his siblings, though his beard is streaked with gray. The story comes from a book of parrot tales read aloud at the Mughal court. The oldest brother says he stays young because his life is calm—good harvests, a happy wife, no worries. The artist painted every wrinkle and fold in the robes to show the brothers’ ages clearly. To see more paintings like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).

The story of this work

Overview

A king’s official sits conversing with the oldest of three brothers. Despite his advanced age, the man appears younger than all of his siblings. When asked, he explains that he has not aged because his life is free of anxiety: his farm yields abundant crops, and his wife is obedient and happy.

Did you know?

Strings of pearls are braided into the woman’s hair.

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Same subject

The eldest brother explains the reason for his youthful appearance, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-ninth Night
The eldest brother explains the reason for his youthful appearance, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-ninth Night Unknown
The young prince recounts his experiences to his father, the king, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The young prince recounts his experiences to his father, the king, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night Suraju
The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the thirty-eighth night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the thirty-eighth night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot) Unknown
Kaiwan sends a message of love to Khurshid, wife of his brother Utarid who is away on a journey, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-second Night
Kaiwan sends a message of love to Khurshid, wife of his brother Utarid who is away on a journey, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-second Night Unknown
The merchant’s daughter gives birth to a son as a result of eating out of the box. The clever child recognizes the false gems from true, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night
The merchant’s daughter gives birth to a son as a result of eating out of the box. The clever child recognizes the false gems from true, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night Unknown
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Tenth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Tenth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot) Iqbal
Shahr-Arai and her husband adopt her lover as a brother in the family, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fortieth Night
Shahr-Arai and her husband adopt her lover as a brother in the family, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fortieth Night Unknown
The merchant’s daughter gives birth to a son as a result of eating out of the box. The clever child recognizes the false gems from true, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night
The merchant’s daughter gives birth to a son as a result of eating out of the box. The clever child recognizes the false gems from true, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night Unknown
The king gives his daughter in marriage to the pious man’s son, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night
The king gives his daughter in marriage to the pious man’s son, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night Unknown

Visually similar

The pious man’s wife offers the seven-colored bird as food to her lover, but not finding its head, he breaks the pot and bowl in anger, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night
The pious man’s wife offers the seven-colored bird as food to her lover, but not finding its head, he breaks the pot and bowl in anger, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night Unknown
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
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 Lalu
The merchant’s clerk replaces the sugar purchased by the philandering wife with gravel, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The merchant’s clerk replaces the sugar purchased by the philandering wife with gravel, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night Unknown

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