Artwork
The monk returns the magic parrot to its rightful owner, the merchant, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night
The monk returns the magic parrot to its rightful owner, the merchant, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night is an unspecified painting. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The illustration depicts a scene from the tenth night of the Tuti‑nama (Tales of a Parrot).
About this work
Technique & Style
The work is on a thin paper support typical of manuscript illumination, showing minor surface abrasions but overall stable condition.
The painting was executed in opaque watercolor and ink on paper in 1560 within the Mughal artistic tradition, depicting a narrative scene from the Tuti-nama with delicate brushwork and a muted palette that emphasizes the monk's gesture of returning the parrot to the merchant. The work is on a thin paper support typical of manuscript illumination, showing minor surface abrasions but overall stable condition. Formal qualities include flattened perspective and intricate patterning characteristic of Mughal manuscript painting, while the composition balances narrative clarity with ornamental detail.
History & Provenance
The painting depicting the monk returning the magic parrot to its rightful owner, the merchant, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night was created in 1560 in the Mughal Empire and is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection, catalogued under accession number 1962.279.84.a. It is attributed to an unknown artist and classified as a painting.
The work belongs to an illustrated Tuti-nama, a didactic collection of tales derived from a Persian source and produced in the imperial workshops during the reign of Akbar. Its material and stylistic features align with Mughal manuscript painting of the mid-sixteenth century, and it measures 27.5 cm × 19.5 cm. Archival records of its early ownership are absent; the painting had entered the museum's collection by 1962.
Overview
The illustration depicts a scene from the tenth night of the Tuti‑nama (Tales of a Parrot). Two figures are shown in a domestic interior: a man in a vivid red and gold costume holds a small, ornately detailed cage containing a parrot, while a seated figure in a blue robe and white turban extends a hand toward the cage. Arabic calligraphy fills the upper portion of the page, framing the narrative.
Subject & Meaning
The image visualises the moment when a monk returns the magical parrot to its legitimate owner, a merchant. The standing figure’s determined posture suggests the act of handing over the bird, whereas the seated merchant’s receptive gesture indicates acceptance of the return, underscoring themes of restitution and moral responsibility within the tale.
Context
Tuti‑nama is a Persian literary work that blends prose and illustration to convey moral stories. This particular page belongs to a manuscript tradition in which narrative scenes are accompanied by Arabic script, integrating text and image for a cohesive storytelling experience.
Artist & collection
- The monk returns the magic parrot to its rightful owner, the merchant, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night
The magic parrot of the merchant talks to the vizier’s son, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night
The wife of the son of the vizier brings the magic wooden parrot to her lover, the monk, who exchanges it for the replica, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night
The magic parrot of the merchant talks to the vizier’s son, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night
The wife of the son of the vizier brings the magic wooden parrot to her lover, the monk, who exchanges it for the replica, 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
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 parrot brings a fruit from the Tree of Life to the king of Syria, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Ninth Night
The prince sent back to the place of execution for the sixth time, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth 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
The marriage of ‘Ubaid, son of a merchant of Tirmiz, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-second Night
The prince, with the help of Mukhlis who changes into a frog, recovers the ring lost in the sea, and returns it to the king, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
The three suitors again begin to quarrel among themselves for the hand of the devotee’s daughter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twentieth Night
Khalis repays the prince for his kindness by changing into a snake and sucking the poison from the king’s daughter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the thirty-third night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The merchant has the hateful skull ground and put into a box, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night
The third suitor strikes the devotee’s daughter and thus restores her to life, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twentieth Night
The prince, with the help of Mukhlis who changes into a frog, recovers the ring lost in the sea, and returns it to the king, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
The king of Zabul sees Mahrusa from his palace balcony, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-sixth Night
The prince and Nikfal are joined by Khalis and the Mukhlis who are the grateful snake and frog in human form, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night