The merchant Mansur departs on a sea voyage, leaving his wife behind, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventeenth Night

The painting, created in 1560 within the Mughal imperial workshop, illustrates the narrative moment from the Tuti-nama where the merchant Mansur departs on a sea voyage, leaving his wife behind. Executed in tempera and ink on paper, it measures 31.1 cm × 20.4 cm and is housed in the Cleveland Museum of Art. Scholarly attention often situates this work within the broader tradition of 16th‑century Persian miniature painting, noting its role in the diffusion of Mughal visual culture across the Indian subcontinent.

The piece exemplifies the narrative focus and delicate naturalism characteristic of the period, reflecting both courtly patronage and the transregional exchange of artistic techniques.

The work illustrates a departure scene from the Persian illustrated manuscript known as the Tuti‑nama, or Tales of a Parrot, specifically the episode titled “Seventeenth Night.” A wooden vessel on a calm waterway carries four robed figures, while a woman on shore waves farewell. The composition is framed by a flag, a tent, and modest hills, and Arabic calligraphy arches across the upper margin.

Executed with flat, saturated pigments, the painting employs bold color blocks, orange, blue, red, and green, to delineate clothing and surroundings. The lack of chiaroscuro creates a stylized, two‑dimensional effect typical of Persian miniature art, while the precise line work of the Arabic inscription adds a decorative textual element to the visual narrative.