The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the forty-third night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1560
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a woman in a courtyard, stopped by a bright green parrot perched on a stand. The floor is pink tile, the walls are red, and a blue carpet seems to float behind her like a paper cutout. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales told to delay the woman’s secret meeting until dawn. The artist flattened the space so every surface looks like it’s been pasted in—no shadows, just bold colors and patterns. To see more art like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).
