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The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Eighth 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 Eighth 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

A bright green parrot perches on a stand, talking to a woman in a red robe. Around them, servants and courtiers listen under a canopy of gold and flowers. This painting comes from a book of parrot tales told over fifty-two nights. The parrot’s stories kept the woman from sneaking out to meet her lover—just like the viziers’ tales saved the prince in the story. The gold leaf and tiny details show how much care went into making it. Look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605) to see more of these rich, detailed scenes.

The story of this work

Overview

On the eighth night, the parrot tells Khujasta a story—the most lavishly illustrated of all the chapters in the book—that has important parallels with the experiences of Emperor Akbar himself. The overarching tale is about a prince who maintained a vow of silence despite being imprisoned and taken to be executed on seven consecutive days. Each day, the king was convinced to stop the execution after hearing a story told by one of his seven viziers, or ministers. The adjacent paintings illustrate scenes from the overarching tale as well as the fifth vizier's story. The golden sky, purple hills,…