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The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-ninth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)

Unknown

1560

unspecified

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Mughal Painting Renaissance Renaissance

Dominant colour

The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-ninth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot) 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

You see a woman in a rich red robe sitting on the floor, listening to a bright green parrot perched on a stand. The bird leans forward, beak open, as if mid-sentence. Behind them, a servant holds a lantern, casting soft light on the scene. This painting comes from a book of stories told by a parrot to delay a woman’s secret meeting. The bird’s tale works—she stays put. The tiny details, like the gold embroidery on her robe, show how carefully these illustrations were made for royal eyes. To see more like this, look up *Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)*.

The story of this work

Overview

Khujasta consults with the talking parrot Tuti before leaving to meet with her lover. The shrewd bird begins to tell her the story of a lynx who successfully saved himself from a lion. By the time the story ends, it is too late for Khujasta to leave for her rendezvous.